Forever
by xUchihaofDPhunkx
Summary: This wasn't just a regular war. This was a fight to survive. But survival, doesn't seem reachable. Especially when you're thrown back 100-some million years ago and forced to escape the deadly claws of long lost creatures; dinosaurs. And I'm not even exaggerating. Dinosaurs man. The kind that eat you. Warning: Character Deaths (PAUSED)
1. The Thing in the Dark

Forever

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><p>Disclaimer: Um...Of course I don't own Naruto...harhar derr.<p>

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><p><strong>Okay! So I've changed the first chapter up a bit. It's (at least I think and hope) wayyyyy better than the last version. If you've already read this, I would read it over again, I've made only a few minor changes in the story. It still follows the origional story line so yeah. Hahaha. :3 I've combined the first two chapters basically. Gosh, this story is so hard to begin :(<strong>

**Hope you like it anyways!**

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><p><strong>Sakura's POV<strong>

Hours passed. I didn't know how many exactly, but that's what it felt like. And in those hours, I sat still as a statue in my seat. My head pressed against the glass of the window and I only slightly raised it when the car encountered a bump in the road. To my left, squished like I was, were my three close friends, Ino, Sai, and Hinata. Usually chattering - well besides Hinata - they hadn't spoken a word since they got in Sasuke's Camaro which was both good and bad. The level of awkwardness in the tight space was overwhelming.

Aside from that I was in disbelief. Just this morning everything had been _normal; _I was cozy in my small for-one apartment, and now I was on the road with two slight strangers because I'd managed to get myself into an unfortunate and unlucky mess. But first, you're probably wondering who the crap I am, and what happened, and what on Earth I'm talking about. I'll tell you one thing for start however, remember to always get all the needed ingredients BEFORE you start to make whatever you're trying to make or bake. I had to learn the hard way of course. Like I always do. There isn't one time- actually, I'm not going to get into all those regretful times. Instead, I'll focus on what's troubling me at the moment. And not only me, but everyone else in this car.

So here I am, Sakura Haruno – fully equipped with pink hair and junk - just walking on down to the corner grocery shop (not like a Publix thing, just a small 24-hour cozy shop with all the little necessities like milk and stuff.) And here's what I was talking about earlier with the ingredient dilemma stupidity. I had already started making a nice batch of wonderful brownies when suddenly my eggs grew legs and flew of my third story window... Stupid eggs, gosh. Anyways, long story short, I went out, way after dark, got my retard eggs, got jumped by some dudes (I think there were two of them, I couldn't tell) in well waddaya know, a freaking alleyway. Brilliant.

Moving on!

So yeah they jumped me and all that bad stuff (I dropped my eggs...what a dang epic no moment) and I was even blind folded! Wow! What genius bad guys! Hey lets blind fold a girl who already cant see crap because oh yeah, it's like what, 1 o'clock in the morning? And after they said some real nasty stuff, and I was screaming my giant forehead off, miraculously, the two boys about my age that I had saw at the shop appeared out of no where.

Now here's where everything gets stupid.

_**-Flashback-**_

_I struggled with all my strength against my kidnappers but nothing worked. One held down my hands in behind me, and the other was tying a blindfold (I'm guessing) over my eyes. They had made arrangements to meet with their gang members somewhere deeper into the alley and I was feeling dizzy and too shocked to think of an escape plan. Oh how I hoped someone would come and save me. But at this hour? This late? There was no chance. But I screamed for help anyways._

_And then all of a sudden I heard a grunt and fast movements. Someone was thrown into a dumpster because I heard (at least I think I heard) what sounded like a body against metal. Flesh hit flesh, and the sound of a sickening cracking noise filled the air. I finally reached to the point where I felt like vomiting. I fell to my knees. Well wouldn't you know, those num-nuts had tied my hands behind me._

_"You're going to pay for that you damned-"_

_And it was quiet._

_"Hn."_

_"Ha! In yo face!"_

_"Uchiha Sasuke...I didn't expect to see you here." I had no clue what was happening, or who was speaking to who, I just focused on the weird feeling of being on the brink of hyperventilation._

_"What the fuck!? You've been following us since forever! What do you mean you didn't expect to see him here?!" I'm thinking they might just have forgotten about me. Good. Now I just have to sneakily perform a sneak escape. Right after I can figure out how to move me jelly legs. Yes, right after._

_"I know...I've just always wanted to say that." Uhm...what the poop?_

_"Where's Itachi!" A new voice that hadn't spoken before, one sounding like it was a next to me, suddenly ripped the bitter air._

_"Sasuke, if your glare wasn't so scary I would tell you."_

_"Don't screw with me! Where's Itachi!"_

_"Hmm...My feelings are hurt, such a fine young man isn't being polite at all, and here I thought Itachi's little brother was a gentlemen. You know," I heard footsteps scuffle closer to me "you remind me so much of him-"_

_"Don't compare me to him! Tell me where he is!"_

_"Oh my! I don't like your tone."_

_"Naruto, get her out of here, I don't want her to get involved with what's about to happen." My heart jumped a little from the mention of my position._

_There was a kind of grunt, sort of like an 'okay' before someone (probably Naruto) removed my blindfold and the ropes that bound my wrists._

_"Thank you." My voice was barely audible because of the stupid lump forming in my throat. God I hate that._

_As soon as my eyes adjusted in the dark, I used whatever light from the moon to make out the figures before me. One man (well what looked like a man) lay on the floor a couple paces in front of me, bruised and completely unconscious. The other, had on a weird mask and he stood only a couple of feet from another dude with dark spiky hair. He had his back to me. The man who freed me from my ties held my arm helping me get up. I was still – unfortunately - weary from my massive adrenaline rush, and I won't deny it, I needed help standing up. _

_Stealing a better look at my two rescuers, I noticed it was those two I had run into at the convenient store earlier. The ramen and Sai -look-alike boys._

_"Oh there's no need for that, we'll just get her some other time then." Taunting me, he slowly moved to pick up his off the floor and slugged him onto his shoulder. As if on cue, a black car pulled up behind him, blinding us with its headlights._

"_Perhaps some other time Sasuke." His voice dripped with sick humor and he practically flew inside the limo._

_"No!" Sai- look-alike boy chased after the car but it sped out of sight as fast as it had came._

_"Sasuke..." Ramen-boy, still holding onto my arm, looked troubled, like he knew something bad was coming.._

_He spun around to face us suddenly._

_"Naruto, I have a plan. We'll need you to help us though." He pointed to me with a slight chin gesture. I was surprised I caught it._

_"What? Are you kidding me? I think I've had enough excitement for the day, r-really." I held up my hands to emphasize my statement. I just wanted to go home, like, now._

_"I don't think you have much of a choice." I cocked an eyebrow at him. Was that supposed to be a threat?_

_"Ok, I'm thankful of you saving me and all, but seriously, I don't want to get involved with you guys. From what I just saw, you people are bad news. Now if you'll excuse me, I want to go home." Gaining my confidence, I spoke with firm words._

_I started to back up, ready to run if I had to. I was very quick on my feet. Naruto's grip on my arm only got harder, but it didn't hurt._

_"Look, I know you are really uncomfortable at the moment but I know Sasuke, he's not the type that plays around. I think you should hear him out before you leave. I'm not saying you have to trust us, but those guys- they'll be back. We just held them up for now, but you aren't safe anymore." I stared into his round blue eyes, the moon had sought an opening through the clouds and cast a ray of light right over them. They were pleading to me to stay. I hesitated. I barely trusted my own friends, and they expected me to just stay put? Umm, hello? In case you havn't noticed, I almost just got kidnapped and stuff...jeez._

_"Alright. What is it." I bit my lip, what was I thinking. Naruto's eyes smiled, and he let go of my arm still standing a bit too close for my liking. Sasuke (that was his name right?) walked casually over to us, both his hands in fists._

_"The people who just attacked you are apart of a gang called 'Akatsuki.' These are the worst kind of people you'll ever meet. If they say they are coming after you, even if you run, they will find you. We've been running for years now, and they're closer than ever. And now they are after you as well. The cops can't do anything about this organization because they're to afraid of them. They take, and do whatever they want, including you. Now, the Akatsuki are very secretive, they only show themselves, when they want to be seen, which is rare. I'm trying to find a specific member of this organization for personal reasons and by using you, they will come out in the open to retrieve you. If your with us, they'll come to us and I'll have another chance to find the guy I'm looking for."_

_"So your just going to use me as bait?" Great._

_"Well if you put it that way...that does sound kind of harsh Sasuke." It was nice to know someone was actually on my side. I didn't know why, but I felt like I could trust Naruto. Something about him was...trustworthy, but I couldn't put a finger on it. Ugh, listen to me. I'm being ridiculous. _

_I sighed, "What's in it for me?"_

_"Protection." I stared at Sasuke like someone just smacked me. No matter how much I tried to get around it, I knew that what he was saying was the truth. Right now, I was in an unbelievable amount of danger, and these two guys were obviously the only people willing to stand up to this so called 'Akatsuki' people._

_"So...you guys are saying that you'll be my temporary body guards? Why don't I believe this?"_

_"Sort of. And I wouldn't either. But then again, I can take care of myself. You on the other hand," Yeah yeah I get it, I tried to hide myself in my ever giant sweatshirt, "You get it." Ha, he just read my mind. "Do you live alone?" Sasuke asked. Well, that took me off guard._

_"Yes." Stupid stupid stupid! Shut up!_

_"Then you're going to have to stay with us for a while." That's almost funny. _

_"Do you honestly expect me to agree to that? Are you out of your mind? In case you haven't noticed but you two are total strangers to me. For all I know you guys could also be apart of this Akatsuki thing and made this whole plan up to try and-."_

_"Do you really think if I wanted to do that I wouldn't have done just that by now? You were already tied up and everything, why would we bother to save you in this case?" He was right._

"_The Akatsuki and I have unsettled business that I want to take care of. They turned my family into a bloody massacre." Sasuke's hatred had engulfed his spirit again, and this time I could feel it, the hairs on my arms stood up. Thoughts rushed to my head, what if they would do something like that to me? I shuddered._

_"...Is that the guy you want to find...?" My voice was a whisper, caught between his obvious suffering, and my own fear. "The guy who did it...?"_

_"Yes." I couldn't help but feel his pain. I knew how it felt, to loose your family, my parents had died in a car accident, but still, I could only imagine what it'd feel like if they were murdered._

_"I'm sorry." I stared at the ground, for a couple of seconds until I finally had the strength to speak._

_"Ok. I'll help you."_

_**-End Flashback-**_

Why did I agree to help them? I don't know, I guess I just felt cornered. Like there was no other way. Still, I feel like maybe I shouldn't have trusted them. But, nothings happened so far, I'm still alive and unhurt, so I guess that's always good.

Now the other story of why on Earth my friends are with me. I suppose it's a good thing, so I'm not totally isolated, and sort of protected if Sasuke and Naruto aren't who they seem. But at the same time, it's a bad thing if everything is actually real. Then I'd basically be dragging them down with me. I felt horrible.

But what's done is done now. No turning back.

_**-Flashback-**_

_They drove me back to my apartment with a cherry red Camaro asking various questions. Well, most of them – all of them – were from Naruto. Sasuke was silent the entire way, steering the wheel. Talk about mysterious, but he had his reasons so I didn't bother him. Naruto's questions however ranged everywhere from what's your name to what's your favorite music genre. Naruto almost didn't stop talking all the way to my place, but I liked it. He was easy to talk to, never a dull moment. I guess Naruto made up for Sasuke's absence of words. _

_"This is where you live?" Naruto was about to enter my small apartment when I slammed the door in his face. (Aint' I a stinka'.) Opening the door just enough to peek an eye out at them, I politely asked them to wait outside._

_"Sorry but I don't want you inside my home, just wait out there for me while I get my stuff." And then I shut the door again. Oh yes, so polite._

_"Fine with me." Naruto said. I could hear them talking through the door. One after the other I heard them slump against the wall, most likely sitting against it._

_"You know we're going to have to move again, since the Akatsuki found us."_

_"Hn."_

_"When are you going to tell her? And where are we going to go this time?" Wait a minute, if they want to confront the Akatsuki, why are they running from them? I figured they must have some kind of reason._

_"I already have it in mind."_

_"Ok...so where are we going to go then?" I listened intently, as I tiptoed across my living room to find my luggages. I could still hear them; for once I was glad the walls were so thin. Old city apartment buildings, what do you expect?_

_"The old Uchiha winter get away. " Whaaaa-?_

_"Your kidding?" Naruto and I shared the same reaction. Even though I didn't know where that was, I imagined it in the middle of no where._

_"No. That place is very convenient actually, it's been completely abandoned since the massacre, and the only person who knows where it is besides myself, is Itachi." Aa, I see, he wants to get one of the Akatsuki members alone. Otherwise he'd be up against the entire Akatsuki mob. Smart._

_"I don't understand..."_

_"What else is new."_

_"You and your crush on Sakura." Say what._

_"I'm only going to say this once, I do not like her." That's what I thought._

_"Not yet you don't." Okaayy... checking out of this now._

_I brought one of my luggage inside to my bedroom, where I began filling it with half my wardrobe, taking anything that was comfortable, and just that. Nothing fancy. I filled the other with things like shampoo and other things of that sort._

_Going about my business for about 20 minutes or so, I remembered my unfinished brownie batter in the kitchen. Of course, I still didn't have any eggs... Well I couldn't let it just go to waste, so I decided to make it without eggs, if it tasted bad I'd just trash it afterward, but what the heck. I quickly rushed to my mini kitchen and stuffed a pan into the oven. A few minutes passed by again before I had to 'go.' Inside my bathroom I couldn't hear Sasuke and Naruto's quiet chatter anymore. Not that I was listening anyways._

_Suddenly I heard a large thud/cracking sound coming from my living room. Suddenly my heart flew to my brain and I had a mini panic attack._

_Rushing out of the bathroom, what did I find? Sasuke and Naruto standing inside my home, with the door completely knocked out of its hinges._

_Hell._

_"Oh no! No, no, no! What the hell did you do! You tore down my door? I told you to wait outside! Jeez!" I sighed, trying to control myself from kicking them. "Your going to pay for that you know. That is definitely not coming out of my paycheck!" I watched as they just ignored me scouting my room like they were some undercover agents. Just kidding...well at least Naruto was._

_"Kzz, all clear, over, kzz." Naruto rolled behind my couch and sprang on his feet with a satisfied look on his face. It would have been funny if I hadn't been fuming._

_"Hello! Are you guys listening to me?" Sasuke turned his gaze over to me. Dang. I got involved with coo-koo heads._

_"We called for you, we thought the Akatsuki might have made their move already so we busted in. Why didn't you answer?" Well, jeez. Now this is what I call super body guards. Still, I'm pretty upset about my door. Now that stupid old land lord lady will never leave me alone with her crazy old lady scream voice. Ugh._

_"Oh sorry," Sasuke detected the hint of sarcasm in my voice. "I didn't hear you. I was in the bathroom, I didn't even hear you call. And I don't think the Akatsuki would just break into my apartment, the alarm would've gone off-"_

_"The Akatsuki are able to do anything. Breaking into your house without setting the alarm off is considered easy for them." Sasuke cut me off. _

_"How do you know so much about these people?" I asked._

_"They killed off my clan remember?"_

_"R-right...sorry."_

_"Hey Sakura! Are you finished packing?" Naruto hopped over to my side to the point where our arms were pressed together. He held up his hand to his mouth like he was whispering in my ear. "I'm starving and I got some instant ramen waiting for me in the car!" He waggled his eyebrows at me making me laugh. Gosh, he was such a weirdo. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Sasuke looking at me with his eyebrows pulled down. What was his problem?_

_"Hey, is there something in the oven?" Naruto brought my attention back around with yet another question._

_"Yes, why?"_

_"It smells good." Sasuke mumbled. I couldn't help but think there was something I wasn't getting when a sly smile came to Naruto's lips._

_"Sasuke...told you so."_

_"Hn." Sasuke smirked at Naruto- woah -, and then looked at me, "You ready to leave?"_

_"Yes! Wait, no!" I spun around and ran into the kitchen. Two minutes later I came back with a bunch of brownie squares in a container._

_"I really wanted some brownies...so I had to make them before I left, but I don't know how they taste without eggs." I smiled innocently even though I was growing uncomfortable with the weird stares Sasuke was giving me. I could've sworn I saw the corner of his mouth twitch trying to form a smile._

_"Alright ready!" Still smiling I motioned the two finely built men toward my luggage. "They are a little too heavy for me to carry alone, can you help me?" I wished I was stronger just then, muscle wise._

_"Of course!" Naruto bounded over and picked them both up by their handles, with barely any effort might I add, and motioned for us to follow him._

_"After we get to my place you'll only have an hour tops to call your friends, family, or anything else of that sort. Once we get to hiding, if you make any phone calls or have any contact with the people you care about, the Akatsuki will try and use them as a hostage to get you to come out in plain site assuming they get a hold of your line or information. If you don't want that to happen, then NO phone calls. So first things first, we need to get rid of your phone or anything else of that matter." I eyed him wearily and slowed my pace down the hall. Naruto was already down the flight of stairs and exiting the building._

_I stopped. My happy look completely wiped off my face._

_"Just to let you know, if you try anything tricky, this will not end well Sa-su-ke___.___" Satisfied with his semi-shocked expression, I continued down the hall and towards the stairs._

_-x-_

_Naruto plopped on the couch next to me, arms crossed, bottom lip protruding, chin high. We were at Naruto and Sasuke's apartment, a couple of blocks down from my own. Naruto was upset because he didn't get a chance to get down on some instant ramen. Sasuke had thrown a luggage at his head, urging him to pack all of his stuff. For some reason this made me crack up. When I shouldn't have. Because I didn't know these people. But it was funny._

_"Oh, I forgot to check my cell phone!" I popped in a brownie and scrambled around in my purse for my phone. Ew. The brownies sucked. Finding my phone I clicked the on button thing to light up the screen. On the screen read: 20 missed calls._

_"Oh crap," I immediately dialed Ino's phone number for I had 17 missed calls from her. The other three were from my other close friend, Hinata._

_Sasuke sighed, and went over to his room to start packing his stuff._

_"Yo, dobe, get your things together , we're leaving soon." Sasuke yelled from somewhere inside._

_"Shut up, I know, I know, just let me have one bowl of ramen-"_

_"We don't have time for that, you can pack your ramen and you can eat it on the road."_

_"There aren't any microwaves on the road teme!" It seemed to me these two were constantly bickering._

"_Just get packing."_

_"Ugh, fine." In a flash Naruto disappeared into his room._

_-x-_

_"Um...how do I say this? Well...Ino, my friend, is um...coming."_

_"What? Whose Ino?" Naruto said._

_"Naruto, I just said, my friend."_

_"Is she cute?"_

_"She's already taken."_

_"Of course she'd be taken..." I giggled at Naruto, we were about to leave, everyone was packed and ready to go until Ino flipped out over the news she found out about that I was moving away for a bit. 'I'm not technically moving, just going on vacation for a while with two men...' Was exactly my response to Ino's scream even though I didn't exactly want it to come out like that. And unfortunately, Ino decided that since it was a vacation, she wanted to come with me. And then it was all like, 'no, I don't think you can come this time,' and then, 'can too!,' and then, 'NO' and then, 'IM COMING.' And that was that. And since Ino had already placed some sort of tracking device on my phone she knew exactly were I was. I mean, who does that! Well, that's what you get for having a best friend like Ino._

_A few minutes later someone was banging on the door. Sasuke opened it to three people instead of one._

_"Sakura, what the hell is this?"_

_"I'm sorry Sasuke! It's not my fault I swear!"_

_"I thought only Ino was coming." Sasuke struggled to keep his voice steady. Obviously irritated, but in his own way. ___It's was actually kind of cute when he gets mad like that..___. I held up my hands signaling the it-wasn't-me-signal as I tried to suppress the slight grin creeping on my expression. Secretly, I was glad all of them showed up._

_"Sakura! When you mentioned two men you never said anything about them being so...so...sexy!" Ino practically cooed over Sasuke. Standing behind her stood Sasuke's look alike, Sai. He sighed._

_"Ino, come on now, not in front of me too." Sai said._

_"Haha, sorry Sai, you know I only love you." That made him smile._

_"S-Sakura, what happened? I was so worried!" Hinata, my most adorable friend barged in from behind Sai and tackled me on the couch in a big warm hug. Hinata was more of a sister to me, the only person I truly trusted with every ounce in my body. Ever since my parents died, she became my family. My mother, my sister, everything. I wouldn't let anything happen to her, ever._

_"...Sakura..." Naruto stared at Hinata in awe. I suddenly became very protective over her._

_"Yes Naruto?"_

_"N-nothing. Never mind..." I caught Sasuke throwing another -woah- smirk at Naruto again, but I didn't think anything of it._

_"Hello, my name is Ino Yamanaka," Ino stretched her arm out to shake hands with Sasuke. "This is Sai," She motioned to her boyfriend standing behind her to shake hands with Sasuke also. "Hello." Sasuke stared at him in disbelief; the expression was surprisingly clear on his face. I bet he's probably thinking '___What the hell...doesn't this guy believe in sunlight?' And 'What the hell is up with that gay ass smile he's giving me?'.__

_"My name is Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke." The two boys shook hands and I couldn't help but feel a little bit bubbly inside._

_"And this is Hinata Hyuuga!" I slung my arm around Hinata who gave a small nod and smiled sweetly._

_"Hn."_

_"And I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" He flashed her a pearly white crooked smile making Hinata's face turn an unknown shade of red. I smiled mischievously at my friend, putting away my protection insticts. In all my life I had never seen Hinata blush this way over a ___guy. ___Ever. I also noticed the off-tone in Naruto's voice as he introduced himself to Hinata. Once more, I caught Sasuke giving me another weird stare. I wanted to blurt out, 'Do I have a watermelon growing out of my head or what.' Knowing better, I shut my mouth._

_"Ino, Sai, Hinata, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You can't come with us-"_

_"Look, Uchiha," Ino got up in Sasuke's face, "Sakura is not going anywhere without me. I absolutely do not trust you two with her alone in your house! Who knows what can happen! One minute she'd come out of the shower with nothing but a too-short towel, cheeks flushed from the steam in the bathroom, dripping wet, and the next minute, one of you could rip that towel of right off her toned, and highly flexible body!" Ino was getting to the details on purpose, and I wanted to choke her. I noticed Sasuke slightly tugging at his shirt's collar and itched his neck to cover it...jeez, all I needed was Ino to make things even more awkward. "And there is nothing you can say or do that will stop me from coming with Sakura! Clear?" Venom dripped of her tongue on each word she spoke. Sasuke hesitated._

_"You'll only get in the way."_

_"I don't care!" Sasuke grit his teeth. I was happy that Ino could be so stubborn. "Oh and just to let you know if I'm coming so is Sai and Hinata. We come as a package." She winked and stuck her tongue out at him. Sasuke moved his head back ever so slightly almost cringing._

_"We're leaving right now. Even if I agreed for you three to come along as well, there's no time to pack."_

_"Hehe! That's why we came prepared!" She clung to Sai's arm revealing three large luggage behind her. "Sakura already told us about the whole Akastuki thing and why they are after her. I mean it's highly believable," She removed herself from Sai and gave Sasuke a mortified look, "Sakura is way too beautiful for her own good. So you have to protect her no matter what!" Now she had a sad expression on her face, ugh, I hated when people thought I was beautiful. Because I don't think I am. "Sakura is like my sister! I can't live in a world without her!" Now she was pissed, her eyes narrowed and opened to reveal the doors to the fire of determination within her eyes. "Or I will never forgive you Uchiha!" Sasuke closed his eyes. Crazy Ino, she was an emotional wreck! But I couldn't blame her._

_"...Hey, you wouldn't have any chocolate animal crackers by any chance? Or some nectarines? Wait no! What I really want are some nachos! And I hope you have some of that hot melted cheese stuff you can pour all over it and ooh! Let's not forget about the salsa!" She emphasized the word salsa by singing it like she was one of those princesses created by Disney._

_"Haha cravings much Ino?" I giggled at my friend but Ino turned pale white._

_"S-Sakura!"_

_"Hehe calm down I'm playing, I'm playing!" Ino sighed at me. It was fun to tease her._

_"So when are we leaving?" Sai spoke up still wearing his smile from before. He moved to put an arm around Ino's waist but she quickly doubled over to Sakura pretending she hadn't noticed Sai. He narrowed his eyes. Ino was making it so obvious. But I knew she couldn't help it. I won't say what's happening with the two, because that's a long story. I just hope everything turns out to be okay. _

_"There's not enough room in the car." Sasuke spoke up._

_"Of course there is teme!" Naruto said. He was still gazing at Hinata who looked like she was about to faint. Her gaze shifted to Naruto's. But he didn't look like he noticed her intense blushing and twirling of her fingers._

_"You know you won't be able to call your family or make any contact with anyone-" Sasuke was obviously trying to find anything that would change their minds about not coming with us. I don't think he wanted to get this many people involved with the Akatsuki. And I liked him for that, even just a little. But I felt safer with them around. Even though I was being selfish. But even if I told them to go home, they wouldn't listen to me._

_"Yes, yes, we already know, Sakura already tried to warn us all the things that would happen if we got involved. Sakura has always been there for all of us so we agreed that now, it's our turn." She smiled. I couldn't help but notice the slight hint of worry on Sasuke's face and made a mental note to clue Sasuke in later on that I hadn't mention anything about Itachi. I'd had a feeling he didn't want anyone to know about that. It was personal, so I wouldn't go blabbing on about it of course._

_**-End Flashback-**_

So yeah, there's that story. So now we're on our way to the Uchiha getaway which is in the middle of nowhere. Just like I had imagined. We had left the city hours ago, after we decided on sleeping the night. We woke up late, bodies aching from the couch or the floor. Now the sun was setting again as we got closer and closer to our destination.

Naruto was snoring in the front seat, and my friends – all piled up over each other next to me began to fall asleep as well, as hours passed. Only Sasuke and I remained unable to sleep. Well Sasuke was driving, I just couldn't fall asleep. Everything had happened over night, and all so fast. My mind was a clustered mess, not to mention my muscles were so stiff from being cramped up so long.

It couldn't get any weirder than this, I thought. But knowing me? That would probably change very soon.

-x-

**(3rd Person POV)**

The Uchiha get away cottage looked like, well an abandoned old house. It had two columns on either side of the entrance to the little pathway that curved up to the porch of the building. It was supported by wood from the ground and had a little gate to keep animals out from under the vacant pitch black space beneath it. Sakura bit her lip as her imagination went wild and thought of a random monster or giant spider thing that would've hidden in there all these years. She climbed up the sidewalk/path thing up to the gate of the porch behind Sasuke who was leading the way but weirdly enough it seemed to get darker and darker with every step she took until the point where she couldn't see anything at all.. They had arrived there at night and since they were somewhere up high in the mountains there were no lights anywhere. Nearby she heard the ruffling of a tree and automatically jumped closer to Sasuke resting the tip of her fingers on his elbow until she realized it was just the wind.

"There's nothing up here besides deer. And maybe bears. Relax." Relax? She couldn't even see her hand in front of her much less fight off a bear if that came into the picture, jeesh, what was she, wonder woman? Behind her she could hear the chattering of her friends. Ino for once wasn't talking, instead her Ino babble was replaced with yawning. She couldn't see but she knew Sai would be holding her hand. Hinata was probably walking beside Naruto and he for sure was most likely totally oblivious to it.

"Sasuke you sure this place is safe?"

"Hn."

"Yo teme answer my question with a real answer." Sakura heard a sigh and Sasuke grunt a yes. All around her she could smell the scent of spring: maple and oak and a variety of flowers. The air was dry and chilly and made the hair on her harms stick up.

Inside the house smelt strange. It didn't quite smell like mold but it was close to it with a mixture of more oak. Naruto sneezed behind her and Sasuke tried to find the light switch. She stood there waiting until the light came on so she could see and relied on her hearing for now.

"Hn. Power's out."

"What do you mean the power's out? It's not even-" Ino yawned in mid sentence, she had even fallen asleep on Sai's lap on the way here. "raining outside."

"Maybe the main power outlet is turned off. Wait here, I'll go find-" Sasuke stopped.

"Where is it? I'll help you find it-" Naruto volunteered.

"Shush!"

"What what! What did I say?"

"Naruto shut up! Listen." Everyone including Naruto did as he said.

Outside on the porch they heard footsteps, and a low growl. But it didn't sound like a bear and deer surely don't growl. Sasuke had said only those two things were up here but clearly there was something else. Sakura could hear it breathing on a window and she wished the moon had been out tonight but no of course not. Just her luck.

Glass shattered and now whatever had been outside was inside. The sound of its heavy foots proceeded closer and something moved in front of Sakura. She jumped slightly but the scent that came with it belonged to Sasuke.

A light that admitted from the match Sasuke was holding and had fished for in his pocket flickered on. Hovering in front of Sasuke was something she had never seen before, nothing anyone's seen before. Sasuke dropped his match in shock and everything was glossy black again as the flame went out.

"AGH!"

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><p><strong>Alright well that's fixed. Lol. Now I just gotta get to the latest chapters. I've been major slackin' :( Yeah...sorry about that.<strong>


	2. Unleashing Terror

Forever

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto<p>

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><p>He stumbled back into Sakura's arms.<p>

"Naruto! Go find the power outlet _now!_" Sasuke whispered rather loudly. His knees felt weak and _god _was he thankful Sakura caught him-well tried to, she was more like supporting his weight.

"S-Sasuke, there's- what was-" Sasuke could almost hear the tears forming at her eyes, "Please tell me you saw _that!_" Silence. The crack of thunder sent all of their heart shooting into their mouth's and the breathing that had come from the monster they had just seen was quiet. _Too _quiet.

"Don't worry Sakura your not imagining- eek!"

"Ino!" No one saw anything but Ino felt it. A gentle warm breeze almost caressed her stomach. _Oh god, oh god, oh god! _She screamed inside her head. Whatever had been in front of Sasuke was now standing before her, poking at the skin of her belly. Lightning ripped the air outside and as soon as it had came it disappeared and she reached behind her to grab a hold of Sai, she couldn't find him.

"Sai, Sai!" Her voice quivered and she didn't notice she had been crying until she tasted the saltiness of her own tears. A pair of firm hands gripped her shoulders and pulled her back into something hard but soft.

"Sai! Sai!"

"Shh! I've got you." She felt him move his body in front of her and she gripped the cloth of his jacket automatically, burying her face in his back. The image of its disgusting, sickly, yellow eyes nailed itself into place in her mind making her heart stop.

Cold wind picked up through the broken window sending a sheet of ice cold rain against their bodies. Sasuke as well as the others lay frozen in fear. Behind Sakura she could feel someone tugging at her shirt. _Hinata! _She grabbed her hand in that reassuring way that she always had when ever she needed it most.

Light blinded them but it wasn't white, it was red and in the form of another lightning strike...weird. Thunder followed it through and the wind strangely stopped suddenly along with the sound of rain.

"Aha! Found you stupid dumb-" The power switch was rusted which meant it was hard to switch on. Using his shoulder for extra strength, Naruto slammed the electricity on and pumped a fist in the air, smug that he'd just saved the day.

"Boo ya! Hey guys I found the-" Coming out from the basement Naruto stared at his friends; Sasuke was on the floor practically sitting on top of Sakura starring absentmindedly at the empty space in front of him with the most bizarre expression, Hinata holding Sakura's hand looking like a ghost on her knees beside the emerald-eyed young woman, and Ino sobbing in Sai's chest and him rocking her back and forth in tense embrace. "What did I miss...?"

-x-

"Shit! We were too late. Damn it Tobi! You just had to leave _without _the treasure right?"

"Haha Diedara-sempai! You make it sound like we're pirates! You know, I've always wanted to be a pirate! I want of of those cool one-legged parrot bird guys on my shoulder too!"

"You see Itachi! This is what I have to deal with _every _single day of my life. I want a different partner, this guy is smoking something far more dangerous than weed. He could be smoking some atomic bomb shit for all we know."

"Nah, I used my last one last week now I'm stuck with what's left of that cigar you gave me."

"...What...the...hell...?" Diedara said.

"Ahahah..." Tobi rubbed the back of his head laughing nervously.

"Someone shoot me please." Diedara pleaded.

"Cut it out both of you. And start acting more mature. Or I'll see to it that both of you get erased for good." Diedara glared at Itachi. He hated this man with all his arrogance, and those stupid emotionless eyes. It made him itch to gauge them out entirely.

"Well what are we going to do about Sasuke? He moved again and this time he has more friends with him including this super hot babe we were _supposed_," He stared at Tobi while emphasizing the word, "to have earlier today."

"Don't worry, I know exactly where he is."

"How Itachi?" Tobi gave Diedara the finger for blaming him while speaking to Itachi. Diedara thew a knife at his head which unfortunately for him missed by a mere inch and hit the basement wall behind him.

"Sasuke makes himself almost too easy to read." He smirked and leaned back in his chair. Letting the shadows of the dark cover his eyes.

-x-

She sighed at his intoxicated breath. He had been nuzzling her face almost all night and she was getting sick of his cigarette scent. She twirled his almost white blue hair in her fingers receiving a low growl from the man she was sitting upon.

"Suigetsu, can we leave this lame bar already? I'm tired."

"Oh come on Karin, juss' a lil' longer? I don' feel like movin'." Slurring his words he buried his face in her neck making her slightly blush. She liked him yes, but unconsciously she'd always compare every guy she would meet to that of her ex, Sasuke. There was just no other man like him, tall, dark, brooding, mysterious, godlike, and of course amazingly cool. Every girl wanted him, and she wanted him _back. _She had him once, sure they'd share a couple of kisses here and there but that was it, then he had dumped her as soon as he found out about her and the Akatsuki. He hadn't even given her the chance to explain things to him. Itachi was there and he completely lost it. Of course he was slightly drunk also from that drug she had slipped into his drink while he wasn't looking, but she didn't want to drug him. She was forced-

"Karin, whaddya say we go to the room in the back over 'der? I know the owner of this place so we are 'llowed to get n', how 'bout it?" Smog filled her lungs as a smoking couple sat on the couch in front of the them and wasted no time sucking face. She watched the man slip a 20 in her pants. She smiled into the kiss and moved to sit on top of him, never leaving his lips with her own. Karin looked away.

"No that's ok, I'm going home." Without saying a word after that they both got up and left the smoke filled area and headed outside.

_Sasuke, where are you? _She thought.

-x-

"Dinosaur?" Naruto laughed. "They don't exist! They're extinct! Giant fireball killed Earth-KABOOM-they all died-bleh-then man inhibited the Earth!"

"We all saw it Naruto! If only for a split second we saw it and it looked almost exactly like a freaking' raptor thing!" Sakura slung shocked Sasuke's arm around her shoulders and helped him up never removing her hands from his back and stomach as she argued with Naruto.

"S-she's right Naruto..." Hinata exclaimed in her gentle voice.

"Then where is it?"

"I don't know, it just disappeared." Sakura puzzled her thought out loud.

"You were here with us when Sasuke lit the candle! How come you didn't see it like we did?" Ino sobbed.

"Well I was standing behind everyone I couldn't see what everyone was spazzing about." He folded his arms and protruded his bottom lip shutting his eyes.

"Naruto! Look at Sasuke! Have you ever seen him like this? He hasn't blinked for like five minutes now..." Sakura stared at Sasuke with clear worry written all over her face. Naruto turned to Sasuke, he was still staring at the space in front of him with his mouth slightly open and his eyeballs looking like they were about to explode off his face.

"Sasuke, hey Sasuke," Naruto waved his hand in front of his face, a drop of sweat started to glide down his forehead. "Are you with us?"

"No..." Naruto smiled, purposefully creating deja vu was always a good sign. Naruto looked at Sakura.

"Don't worry, he's fine." He flashed her his signature smile and went to Hinata's side asking if she was ok.

"Sasuke?"

"I'm fine Sakura." The Uchiha slowly made his way to the window that had been broken. This alone proved that whatever they had just witnessed wasn't just their imagination. He looked at Naruto and then back at the shattered glass.

"Believe us now?" Dumbfounded, Naruto nodded.

"But, but that means it might still be inside this house or it just went back outside."

"Exactly," Sakura sighed as Sasuke finally regained his cool and started using his brain again. "That's why I want you and Sai to search the house. The house is not big so if you yell for help we'll hear you. I'm going to go outside to board up and temporarily fix this window. Sakura if you don't mind, there's a broom in the kitchen, clean up this glass please. Hinata, I trust you to calm Ino down."

"But Sasuke shouldn't we call the police or something?" Sakura asked.

"What are they going to do? If we did, do you think they'd believe our story?"

"He's right Sakura." Naruto put a hand on the pinkette's shoulder. She bit her lip. She didn't entirely look as scared as Ino or Hinata because she was trying so hard to keep her cool but on the inside she was screaming and wished she could pull all her hair out.

Going outside, Sasuke heard nothing but the rain, luckily, the wind wasn't as bad as it had been a couple of minutes earlier, and the entire porch was covered by the roof. Fixing the window was easy, he nailed the four blocks of wood into place and turned to look at his surroundings once more straining his eyes. (it wasn't like he could see much anyways because of the darkness and lack of moon.). He had an uneasy feeling and all he could hear was his own heartbeat. For a second he even regretted coming to the middle of no where in the mountains until Itachi's image appeared in his mind. Fear was swallowed by anger and his pulse calmed down. Hell, if he wanted to kill Itachi, killing a dinosaur should be the last of his worries.

"Well, no monster in this house." Sai came back with Naruto right behind him assuring the girls. Sasuke opened the door making everyone jump unintentionally. Realizing this Sasuke quickly apologized in a low voice.

"It's only me. The window's fixed by the way." Ino was back to her senses and the floor was glass-free. Sakura stared at the ground, her bangs covered her face so no one could see the tears that she couldn't hold back anymore. In the most steady voice she spoke,

"Sasuke...If that thing comes back...what are we going to do?" He stared at her with soft eyes. No one else saw her tears splash on the floor but him. Damnit, he was never good at comforting, what should he say? Giving it a little thought he moved closer to her and placed his two fingers on her chin forcing her to look up at him.

"I won't let anything happen to you. I promise." She gazed into his eyes everything around her suddenly spinning. Her knees felt weak, her mind feeling as if her soul ripped through her body and plunged into the outside world ready to just float away. She found herself resting her forehead against Sasuke's firm chest. He didn't move or say anything as she quietly let everything she'd been holding in pour out. If he was going to protect her he was going to need something more powerful then his own fists and limbs.

"My father always kept a shotgun in one of the drawers in his dresser in his room. He taught me how to use it whenever we went hunting. It's probably still there so you'll be safe Sakura. Everyone is going to be safe. I won't let no one get hurt." Sakura relaxed a little at the rumble of Sasuke's husky voice, and the sound of his steady heartbeat. His reassurance didn't quite completely convince her though. It almost sounded like he was calming himself as well but even so, she didn't have the motivation to remove herself from him when her silent tears finally stopped falling. His scent intoxicated her senses and made her feel at peace. Why wouldn't she want to be close to him, especially right now? Especially when she actually believed even in the slightest bit that he was strong enough to become her knight in shining armor.

_What a wonderful time to start falling for Sasuke, Sakura. You should be focusing on midget Godzilla that just came bursting through the window instead of superman. Jeesh..._She thought. She tried her best to put him out of her mind. Now wasn't the time to be listening to her heart. Now was the time to get the heck off of Sasuke and figure out what the hell just happened. That _thing or whatever _that had just came out of Sai's ass was _real. _What would happen if it were to come back in the middle of the night while everyone was asleep? Great. Paranoia equals no sleep. No sleep equals massive killer headache. Massive killer headache is always bad.

Using all her will power she pushed herself off of Sasuke who hadn't moved at all since she touched him. She didn't say anything, nor did he, or the others either. Silence blanketed the household and Sasuke slowly headed for his parent's old room.

Moments later Sasuke came back into the living room with the shotgun and reloaded it with five giant bullets.

"Since we only have one gun, I suggest we all sleep in one room tonight."

"What are you crazy! That monster is bound to come back! I can't-" Ino glanced at Sakura biting her lip like they were having some kind of internal conversation.

"Ino, we told you that if you came with us, you would be put in danger. Stop complaining." Sasuke stared at her with emotionless eyes avoiding the glare Sai was giving him.

"I know but..." Ino fidgeted.

"Ino..." Sakura looked at her worried. Clearly Sakura knew something about Ino that no one else did. "Nothing will happen Ino. Sasuke said so."

"How do you know that Sakura?" Her sky blue eyes were tinged pink and watery from tiredness and shock. Sakura smiled at her hoping to cheer her best friend up if only a little bit.

"I mean look at him," She pointed at Sasuke's muscles feeling his arm to emphasize that he was strong. "His eyes don't lie Ino, he'll protect us, along with Naruto and Sai! I believe in him, I believe in all of us that's why we're going to get through this, as long as we all believe and hope also, we can."

"Well Sakura, your on a roll aren't you." Naruto laughed and smiled at her.

"Very funny." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"As I was saying, there is two beds already in one of the bedrooms, we'll move my parents bed into the same room also and we'll sleep in there together."

As the boys moved the bed with the other ones Sakura pulled Ino aside.

"When are you planning on telling him Ino?"

"I don't know Sakura, I don't know. I can't do it, I want to but...I'm afraid. I told you that." "You're going to have to tell him at some point, Ino." Sakura was more like giving her advice then lecturing Ino. Her voice was soft as she spoke so no one would hear. Sakura continued, "It's going to become more noticeable too, you know that right?" Ino shifted her gaze on the wooden floor. She was right, she knew she was right all along anyways. She looked up at Sai who had just dropped the bed frame on Naruto's foot by accident. There was some extremely loud cursing followed by the _thump. "_Yes Sakura, you are right. I'll tell him but not now, there's enough stress as it is, I don't think any of us will need more."

Sasuke finished putting the bed together in the other room and the girls went in the bathroom to change into there nightwear and the men stayed in the bedroom to change. The bathroom was small yes, but still big enough to fit three people and not be totally squished. After freshening up before bed, the girls retreated back into the room to figure out who sleeps where and with who. Ino and Sai obviously had one bed for just the two of them. Sakura and Hinata went in one of the bed that was lined up against the wall which left Sasuke and Naruto in the same bed.

"NO." Sai looked up lazily at Naruto with his hands behind his head, his sudden outburst striking half of his attention. The other half was dedicated to his sleeping beauty that was resting on his stomach already fast asleep. Hinata sat in the same position as Sakura next to her, feet dangling of the edge facing Sasuke and Naruto.

"I am not sleeping with dobe!"

"And I'm not sleeping with teme!" They looked away from one another and then at the same time, both of them pointed to each other and whispered "Spooner!" to Sakura and Hinata, holding a hand by their mouth so the other wouldn't see. Sai chuckled and the girls sweat dropped picturing what that would've looked like if they had been spooning together in one bed. They shivered.

"I won't even ask how that happened." Sakura giggled but it was silenced when she noticed Sasuke was gazing at her with those stupid provoking eyes of his. She didn't think he was even trying though. To seduce her that is. But she wondered why he was looking at her like that. She looked over at Hinata, she was blushing of course, but then she noticed Naruto was giving her his own smolder also only it was the cute kind of smolder. She glanced back at Sasuke but instantly regretted doing so feeling her cheeks get hot.

"W-what?" Sakura asked.

"Well, since teme and I aren't going to be sleeping in the same bed together...that just means we're going to have-"

"No! Not happening! I'm not going to be caught dead in the same bed with one of you two." Sakura folded her arms and pointed her chin up, looking away from the two of them.

"Well what about you Hinata?" Naruto gave her his best puppy dog face and leaned closer to her from his bed. She looked like she would've died from blushing so bad but laughed nervously. She fidgeted with her fingers.

"Haha Naruto! Your going to make her faint cut it out." Sakura smiled placing a hand on Hinata's shoulder trying her best to ignore Sasuke's intense gaze. Naruto reached across the small space between their beds, put both his hands on Hinata's knees, and tucked his feet under his butt. He leaned closer to her face smiling in a devilish way. Hinata leaned back but didn't move her legs. His hands were warm compared to her ice cold skin causing goosebumps to run down along her arms.

"N-Naruto," Her voice was barely audible. She looked at the floor from the corner of her eyes.

"Hey Naruto! I said cut it out-"

"Sakura," She froze. His voice was deeper than before, rougher.

"Huh? W-hat are you- Wait!" Sasuke got up and steadied himself on one foot as his other knee gently rested on the edge of the bed beside Sakura completely ignoring her. She backed up bringing up one of her legs to her chest, hands placed behind her. Sasuke smirked, god his smirk was so damn sexy. She eyed his hands which hung low on either sides of his hips.

"No! Get away! Whatever you say I sure as hell will not allow you in the same bed as me so don't even try to seduce me. Trust me I already know that trick." Her eyebrows furrowed but she didn't back away any more as he continued to edge closer. She brought her foot to his chest and pushed him back.

"You couldn't even do that to me anyway so don't even try." She made him chuckle.

"Sakura, if I was trying to seduce you, you wouldn't be able to speak." He climbed the bed, now leaning back but both of his knees were still on either side of Sakura's chest. He looked down at her still smirking. Her eyebrow twitched.

"What did you say Uchiha?"

"Hn." He smirked again and climbed over her to the other side of the bed. In one swift movement he pulled the covers over him, placed his head on the pillow and shut his eyes. Her eyes almost popped out of her sockets.

"Hell, no." She kicked him off the bed receiving his grunt in response.

"Hn." She smirked mimicking him.

"You're going to regret that, Sakura." He rose off the ground his bangs shading his eyes. He was about to jump on her before Sai interrupted them.

"Wait, look whats on the news." Sai looked straight up terrified with his remote in hand he was watching the rather small television that was hogging up one of the bedroom corners, the one closest to the door. Naruto went back to sitting on his bed and left Hinata alone to regain her mind that had just been floating off in la la land.

"Red...lightning?" They listened to the news reporter.

"_Breaking news. We have received noticed that many of the pedestrians in this area have reported feedback on this mysterious new type of lightning displayed in tonight's storm. Two people have been reported missing from this and strange animals have been seen running around in local shopping centers terrorizing residents. Twelve have been already confirmed dead, several more severely injured. Civilians living in this area have been evacuating to safer lands and local farmers are standing their ground working on securing their barns and protecting their crops and farm animals. The military are currently working to protect the people from any more of this danger. Until then, we push you to equip weapons and seek shelter. Board up your windows and retreat into the lowest possible level in your home and steer away from these creatures," _On screen was a picture of two raptors breaking into a gas station._ "We will keep you updated with latest information of these happenings." _The news reporter stood in front of what looked like a mall behind her was another one of the raptors running straight for her. They all held their breath. _"Shit! Watch out-" _The camera was dropped on the ground, screams were heard and then the screen went to static. Standby was displayed in large red letters and the hum of a low pitched 'bleep' broke the silence. They all looked around at each other, completely stunned.

"I-it's the monster from earlier." Sakura gripped the covers beneath her. She looked at her new friends. Sasuke seemed to be in deep thought while Naruto was silence for once in utterly devastating shock. Hinata held a hand to her chest and glanced at Sai. His lips were parted at he stared at the screen, he looked down upon his sleeping Ino beside him and then back up with worry plastered on his face.

"Sasuke? What are we going to do?"

"I'm thinking!" She flinched at his sudden outburst and then hugged her knees to her chest. She also noted the hidden key of terror that masked Sasuke, and her heart twinged a bit. She imagined what he could have been feeling right now, it seemed like everything bad always happened to him and bit her lip. Just when she thought she'd pushed the most disturbing thoughts of the incident that happened tonight, it was back. If that _thing _was killing people, why hadn't it killed them when it suddenly appeared right before their very eyes? It just didn't make any sense.

"I know what we're going to do." He clenched his fist.

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><p><strong>ooo wee wooo! (Creepy suspense noise)<strong>

**Yeah...review and stuff :) Or don't, they're your fingers.**


	3. Itachi's Undelivered Message

Forever

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto<p>

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><p><em><strong>Two hours before the the news reporter incident. <strong>_

_Bang. Bang. Bang._

She rolled over in her sleep. _Bang. Bang. Bang. _"Ok ok! I'm coming, coming. Jeez..." She looked over at her clock, it read 2 o'clock sharp. She slapped her forehead forcing herself up and off her bed careful not to awake the man sleeping next to her. Her bare feet touched the cold wood floor and she reached for her glasses on the small nightstand beside her. She slipped on her red fuzz slippers and headed toward the front door, throwing on a robe on her way out of the bedroom. Who knocks on the door this early and so _loud? _Slugging down the stairs still half asleep she bit her lip. All of a sudden she had a really bad feeling, maybe she should wake Suigetsu up just in case...She stood on her toes reaching the little hole to look through on her door. Her heart stopped and her body automatically took a step back. She rubbed her eyes hoping she was imagining things and looked through the hole again now fully awake.

"I-Itachi?"

"Karin? Why did you leave?" She spun around, startled, but only to see Suigetsu slug down the stairs rubbing his eye with the inside of his wrist.

"N-nothing, I-I mean, there's someone at the door."

"Who?" He slugged towards her yawning as he reached for the door handle,"What douche is out this late waking people up-"

"No!" She jumped in front of him shoving his hand out of the way. "I-I mean, let's just go back to bed maybe he'll just leave." As if on cue Itachi's knocking got louder making Karin bite her lip. She really, _really _didn't want to get involved with him especially with what happened last time. She blamed blackmail.

Suigetsu cocked and eyebrow at her, his one eye still shut refusing to fully awaken. He hesitated for a moment before abiding to her wishes and retreated, in slow motion, murmuring "Dude I have such a freaking hangover headache." as he went upstairs. She almost felt relieved when she saw the last of his foot disappear into the ceiling before Itachi knocked once again reminded her he was still waiting outside. She thanked the adrenaline that burst through her veins giving her some courage and clenched her jaw, spinning around unlocking the door viciously and opened the door, the chain still intact.

"What do you want Itachi?!"

"Karin, come with me I'll explain everything in the car." She made a sound which varied somewhere in between a growl and a hiss.

"Why me? Why can't you get someone else to do your dirty work, I've already done more than enough for you, leave me alone to my life-"

"Bring Suigetsu with you also, we're leaving now."

"Oi! Did you not just hear what I said." Karin flinched under Itachi's glare for raising her voice at him. She looked down at her feet, her sudden spasm of courage vanishing with his menacing expression.

"I heard you." She eyed him wearily as he looked around with just his eyes and then behind him. She glanced over his shoulder and saw a shadowy figure leaning on the light post across the street. She cursed to herself silently, of course Itachi would have back up with him she had no choice or else she'd be dead in the next few minutes, along with her boyfriend upstairs. Then he gave her a weird look, she puzzled over this intently until she came to a conclusion. His eyes were pleading to her. Karin's jaw dropped.

Voice as bitter as a lemon and as stiff as metal Itachi said, "We're wasting time."

-x-

Itachi drove into the parking lot of a jeep dealership and parked in front of one of their top model cars. A man with dark red hair had been tagging along side Itachi the whole time during the purchase of the vehicle, completely silent. His name was Sasori, Karin noted, he was also kind of cute but had a weird aura surrounding him. Maybe because he kept staring at her and Itachi with absolutely no expression and would _never _blink. What was this guy, some kind of freaking robot? Jeez, it was so creepy.

After the transaction had been made, might I add more blackmailing and negotiating the price of the vehicle to be ten thousand dollars cheaper had taken place also, Itachi escorted Karin into the drivers seat. Sasori stared Suigetsu down into the passengers seat and then walked over behind Itachi whom had shut Karin's door closed. He made a motion for Karin to open her window, who obeyed and clicked her seat belt on. She placed both of her hands on the steering wheel gripping tightly enough so the whites of her knuckles where visible. Suigetsu was quiet as he stared back and forth between his girlfriend and the stranger outside her window.

Itachi handed Karin a slip of paper and she took it with her right hand fixing her glasses so she was able to read it. Suigetsu leaned over to see what was scribbled on it but Karin quickly folded it and stuck it in her black leather jackets' front chest pocket, not noticing him and replaced her hands on the steering wheel her vision fixated directly in front of her. The glare of a light post reflected on the lenses of her glasses hiding her sorrowful eyes.

"I've given you the address to the old Uchiha winter get away house. You are sure to find Sasuke there. The note told you what to do once you meet him. Now go." Her sweat glistened in the light and as soon as he spoke the last sentence she pressed on the gas, the words upon the note constantly replaying itself in her head.

_'Find Sasuke, and deliver this message to him. "Madara is back."'_

-x-

_**Present**_

"I know what we're going to do." Sasuke said. He felt eyes on his back as he faced the television. The annoying 'bleep' noise came to a stop, and the two main anchor news reporters came back on screen with completely horrified looks tattooed on each of their faces.

"Sai, wake up Ino." He did as he was told and Sai filled her in silently on what just happened.

"H-here is a picture of the two civilians reported missing." The man's voice was barely audible. Two photograph's were displayed a few seconds later of a woman with extremely bright red hair and matching eyes, and a man with white/blue hair and purple eyes. Under their pictures were their names, Karin, and Suigetsu.

Sasuke's eyes widened even more as he clenched his fists taking a small step forward.

"Sasuke! That's-" Naruto rose to his feet beside the Uchiha with an identical expression.

"K-Karin?" _What was she doing here?_ Sasuke thought to himself.

"You know her?" Hinata asked.

"What about the guy?" Sakura was still hugging her knees to her chest frantically searching for an answer from one of the two.

"That was Sasuke's ex, but I don't remember the guy. Sasuke?"

"Neither do I." Sasuke almost choked as he struggled to swallow. What the hell was this? Some kind of horror show, bad news here and there and freaking _everywhere_. He blinked hard and turned around to face his best friend and the others. Rapidly regaining his cool he spoke with superiority in his voice.

"First of all, now that these monsters are crawling everywhere, tragedies like what just happened are bound to occur consecutively. We can't let it traumatize us like this every time, that's why we're going to need to get a good night's sleep. We're going to have a watch schedule tonight also, one of us will stay up while the others will sleep. Every two hours we'll switch with someone else, someone who hasn't kept watch yet. If anyone hears anything and I'm not on watch, wake me up since I'm the only one who knows how to use the gun I assume." As Sasuke spoke he looked at each of his new friends individually one by one, making sure to get his point across. They all nodded in agreement. Sakura was amazed at how intelligent Sasuke sounded when he spoke more than a couple of sentences. She loved the sound of his voice.

"In the morning, all of us are going to stock up on food, water, weapons, and other necessities, tomorrow we're going to hike up this special mountain. There is a small log home that we used to use for when we'd go camping. Within it is a completely under ground shelter for whenever there were any hurricanes or tornadoes. We'll hide away in there. It's a convenient place fortunately for us. It will protect us from any dinosaurs," He felt so weird saying that, "and Itachi knows of that place also so it'll work out perfectly."

_'"What's this? Our weather radar shows another massive storm will be approaching tomorrow after noon?!"' _They turned their attention back to the television which had interrupted Sasuke. In the background the voices from the camera crew could be heard unconditionally shocked from their own news. _'"We advise to seek immediate shelter before the storm! We'll be back after the commercial break."_

"We're going to have to beat the storm too if we're going to hike up there Sasuke..." Naruto added.

He nodded. "Before we leave for the shelter though, I'm going to have to teach each of you how to use a gun."

Naruto was sweating. This was really happening wasn't it? He took in a shaky breath, his eye brows pulling down. He looked over at Hinata-she was undeniably terrified, tears silently trickling down her cheeks. He couldn't quite picture her using a gun...Unwanted mental pictures of her being mauled by one of those creepy yellow-eyed giant lizards forced itself into his thoughts. He clenched his fist and rushed over in front of her. He followed him with her eyes as he took her hands into his own and stared deeply within her milky lavender eyes.

"Hinata, if...if something happens tomorrow-"

"Naruto, it'd be best if we keep a positive look about things." Sai spoke up.

"...You're right," Naruto looked at Sai hesitated for a second then turned back to Hinata. "Hinata!" She blinked at his sudden change of tone in his voice. "If something happens tomorrow, I want you to know that I'll make sure to protect you! So, don't cry no more ok?" He tilted his head a little to the side giving her a warm smile.

"N-Naruto..." She wrapped her arms around his torso gripping a fistful of the cloth of his white T-shirt. He was a little surprised, but didn't hesitate to hug her back. Hinata sniffled into his chest forcing the tears back and inhaled his scent and warmth.

"I'll take the first watch." Sasuke said with his eyes closed. Tomorrow is going to be a hell of long day, he thought glaring at the floor, Itachi...this is all your fault! He grit his teeth as he walked over to Sakura, climbed the bed and sat against the wall. Sakura lied down next to him, bring the sheets up to her chin, it was a little on the chilly side and she didn't want to catch a cold right before their super mission tomorrow. Sasuke sat with one knee propped against his chest, he held his shot gun with both of his hands in between his legs and left his gaze on Sakura, and hers on Sasuke. She stared into his eyes until she felt she was about to loose consciousness.

"Wake me up in two hours alright." She whispered before she fell asleep. He reached out and gently moved a strand of hair from her eyes and pushed it behind her ear when he was sure she was out cold, careful not to touch her skin.

He rested his head against the wall and looked up at the ceiling, shutting his eyes for a second replacing his hand back on the gun. He huffed and looked up at nothing but darkness. About a half hour later, Naruto had begun to snore. He sighed and looked to his right, the blonde haired dobe and Hinata were in the bed closest to them and surprisingly, Naruto wasn't spooning her. He looked at Ino and Sai they were both asleep too, facing each other holding hands even in their sleep. His heart twinged a bit, and even though everyone was sleeping he didn't give any of his emotions away through his expressions. He missed having a girlfriend sometimes. He thought of Karin and wondered what could have happened to her. Was she killed by the...dino-shitasaurs? The thought of it didn't make him feel anything. Just a sense of sorrow. He looked over at Sakura who looked like a doll sleeping next to him.

He quickly looked somewhere else. This feeling in his chest when he'd looked at her had to stop. She didn't deserve something like him. She deserved something better than that, and not someone who had brought her into this life or death situation. He looked up again at the ceiling, regret and guilt swallowing him up entirely. Four hours past before he felt like he was really about to fall asleep. He glanced over at Sakura as he got up off the bed, he didn't want to wake her up, he couldn't.

"Dobe." He shook his shoulder softly then more roughly when he refused to get up.

"No...give ramen back...Satan!"

"Dobe!" Sasuke whispered a little loudly. Giving up Sasuke punched his stomach-well damn...that got him up fast.

"You ugly hoe-!" Sasuke slapped his mouth shut.

"Stfu! You trying to wake everyone up dobe." Naruto blinked a couple times trying to clear his blurry vision.

"Sorry...teme but you didn't have to punch me." Naruto sat up as Sasuke placed the gun against the wall beside himself and slipped under the sheets next to Sakura.

"You wouldn't wake up." He turned to Sakura and watched her breath softly with gentler than usual eyes. "Just try not to fall asleep before you're shift is over." He whispered before he passed out.

"Just try not to fall asleep before you're shift is over-blah blah blah." Like I would fall asleep when I made a promise to protect Hinata, he thought. He also thought about tomorrow. Hiking through the woods, and being stalked like prey...no not like prey...tomorrow they were prey to every man eating lizard out there and to make things worse, they might be caught up in the thunder storm carrying pounds and pounds of food on their backs too.

Great...just great.

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><p><strong>I want cake now...<strong>


	4. Red Lightning

Forever

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto<p>

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><p>Sakura's eyes fluttered open, a beam of sunlight blinding her awake. She sighed recalling her memories from the night before, rising up from her bed- well tried to. Sasuke's arm was draped around her waist pulling her closer to him while burying his face in her back. She turned around to punch him but froze when her eyes landed on his face, he looked so peaceful, like a little boy; adorable. His arms were still tangled along with the sheets surrounding her, leaving no escape so she gave up and turned to face him propping herself up on her elbow. He hugged her closer to his body making her blush.<p>

"Sasuke," She whispered while twirling a strand of his hair in between her fingers, gazing silently at his sleeping face.

"Sasuke," he grunted and snuggled her closer now officially closing the space between them.

"What..." He mumbled making her smiled at him.

"Please remove yourself from me."

"..."

"Move." The sweet tone in her voice was gone as she poked his cheek trying to get him to awake. He lazily opened one cloudy eye-the one closest to Sakura- to peek up at her, raising an eyebrow as well. Her face was so close to his that he could smell the sweet vanilla like scent on her skin, reminding him of his mother who smelt just like that. He closed his eye and inhaled deeply before actually realizing what exactly he was doing.

"..." He rolled over extremely embarrassed but refused to let Sakura noticed it so he just masked his expression with his usual one. Unfortunately, Sasuke had forgot that he hadn't been sleeping in his own huge king size bed tonight but rather in a a full size and rolled right off the bed. Yup...smooth. And unfortunately for Sakura she was still embedded in the sheets so when he fell, he dragged her down along with him.

The commotion woke their roommates, except Naruto and Sai, the blonde haired energy ball was still snoring away, and Sasuke's look a like was on his watch duty. Ino groaned awake her face slightly green from who knows what.

Sakura landed on the Uchiha's chest, receiving a grunt from him; their noses almost touching, both blushing with startled eyes.

"You...you..." She searched for an insult to throw at Sasuke but had a hard time communicating with herself, she almost just accidentally kissed the hottest man in the universe, what else do you expect to happen to a girl's mind? "You noob!" Sakura quickly scrambled off of him blowing a strand of hair out of her face noticing her friends were watching them. She sat on her knees still on the floor and laughed nervously, her inner Sakura going nuts.

"Noob?" Sasuke asked behind her while standing on his feet, smirking. She shot him a death glare over her shoulder. He ignored it.

"Sai, wake up Naruto." He nodded kicking him awake with ease.

"Ow! He-ya!" Naruto jumped up to his feet in a blur on top of the bed striking some weird ninja pose while making some weird ninja kung fu noises ready to fight someone. Sai flashed that stupid gay smile that Sasuke couldn't stand at his now aware friend but before before said man was able to protest against Mr. Albino, giving Sasuke a headache, his smooth voice filled the narrow room getting everyone's attention.

"It's already eight in the morning, I want us all ready in 10 minutes, it'll take us another 35 to get from the store and back, so we'll have to do all our shopping in 10 minutes tops. Hiking will take another 2 hours. Before we go though, I'll have to teach everyone how to shoot but I'm only going to show everyone hot do load and hold the gun once because of our time limit so it'd be best if you payed close attention." They stared at him like an alien.

"WHAT?! ONCE?!" Naruto acclaimed.

"There's six of us so we should get a week's worth of supplies done quickly. Sai," He looked up at him from his bed,"You'll be in charge of getting backpacks and making sure we have plenty of water. Naruto, you'll be in charge of getting non-perishable foods," he nodded, "Hinata, you'll get the sleeping bags and blankets, there's no heating where we're going."

"O-Okay!" She responded.

"Ino you'll- Ino?" His eyes narrowed at her place beside Sai who was behind her so he couldn't see that she looked like she was about to vomit.

"Shit," Sakura flew beside her friend grabbing her arm while helping her out of bed and into the bathroom. On their way out, she called over her shoulder to Sasuke.

"Ino's going to be fine, she always gets like this whenever she er, eats um...sushi? Yes sushi! We had it the day before yesterday...it was bad...sushi...So uh, please continue we'll be back shortly aha..." That was when Sasuke understood, and before anyone would question anything he continued as Sakura wished.

"I'll cover the weapons. Someone tell Ino that she'll be responsible of getting the hygiene items and Sakura that she'll get any kind of medication and first aid that we might need."

"Sasuke, I've never heard you speak this much before! This is amazing! It's because of _her_ isn't it?!" Naruto suddenly appeared next to his roommate, pointing towards the door and smiling mischievously, taunting him and also making Hinata giggle.

"Get dressed."

-x-

Overhead the sky was gloomy with dark clouds, the wind whistled through the forest that surrounded the large department store.

It was completely trashed, windows were broken, people were stealing, rioting, crying and screaming; it looked like a freaking war was happening outside in front of it. Sasuke parked his vehicle as far away from the rioting as possible immediately climbing out the door as soon as he put it in park as well as the others. They jogged up to the entrance to the store hearing the weird calls of raptors somewhere in the distance casting uneasiness amongst every last person in the parking lot; their yelling soon became quiet chanting until their voices eventually stopped. Inside the the store lighting was dim, creating a sense of apprehensiveness, Sakura chewed the inside of her lip as she followed Sasuke to where all the carts were piled up in a corner. Most were bent and there were hardly any working ones with their stupid missing or broken wheels. _'What the hell happened in here? Oh wait, Godzilla.' _She thought.

Finally finding working carriages they passed through the automatic sliding doors to enter devastation. Right before there in front of them was a body mangled to the point you couldn't identify who the person was. They looked away in disgust and sorrow now confirming why the store looked the way it looked and silently moved passed the corpse without a word. They also noticed no one was running the registers on any of checkout lines, so that meant free merchandise, in fact the whole interior of the store was strangely deserted.

Placing his shotgun in his cart so he didn't have to carry it, Sasuke spoke.

"Meet up at the car outside. When you get there immediately start loading everything into the trunk neatly so everything can fit. I left it open so all you have to do is open the lid." His voice was unbelievably strong receiving admiration from Sakura. Even though they were in the middle of chaos, she really did believe in him and weirdly enough, she felt more secure than ever with him.

"Alright! On the count of three! One-" Everyone except Naruto split up to their duties leaving Naruto behind in a dust storm.

"Hey!" A vein made it's self visible on Naruto's forehead as he made his way to the food section almost flipping his cart over from making a turn to fast.

"Ramen, ramen, ramen! Ah! Found it!" He slapped whatever was not demolished of his favorite food into his haul and moved on doing the same with what was left on the the almost-empty shelves.

Glancing over the counter, Sasuke looked for someone that could access the giant display case of guns and other weapons but there didn't seem to be anyone running the station here either. He noted that the glass had already been broken into being that their were only six guns and 3 brutal looking daggers left mounted on the wall. He blew a sigh of relief glad that this place wasn't heavily populated enough that everything was completely gone but cursed at the lack of bullets in his sight. Wasting no time he grabbed whatever there was left from the racks; 4 pistols, a rifle, a machine gun, and the daggers, throwing them into his carriage.

Next he searched the surrounding aisles looking for any kind of gun holsters, dagger sheaths, and bullet holding belts. Succeeding in this, he strapped on his shotgun to his back and moved on to finding the ammo; no luck. He tried looking in the storage room of the department store; bad move. Entering it, he searched amongst the stacks and stacks of boxes that were sprawled everywhere, some open, some still duck taped shut; each of them labeled in big black bold letters indicating what was inside. After a few minutes of searching he finally found the box relating to what he was looking for. Unsheathing one of the daggers he smoothly sliced through the tape revealing a variety of ammo that was within. He loaded his cart and was about to exit the storage when a tower of boxes crashed in front of him blocking his way. He froze, his ears detecting the sound of deep heavy breathing. Slowly he let go of his carriage and reached for his shotgun behind him.

His eyes were wide showing fear but his eyebrows were pulled down in determination, ready to defend himself. Slowly he turned the end of his carriage with his finger pulling back to the left, away from the breathing and into an aisle of stacked packages. His lips were pressed in a thin line as he took one small step backwards at a time as silent as possible. Reaching the end of it he rounded the corner peaking for any signs of a dinosaur, his back against another tower of heavy boxes. He didn't see one but what he did see in plain sight was the doorway out of the storage. He loaded his gun and took aim, closing one eye, and placing the recoil pad against his shoulder, waiting for the creature to reveal itself.

Directly behind him it screamed making his heart jump out of his mouth, he turned in time to see it bound towards him, its claws ready to gash into his flesh. Acting on impulse he backed out of the way and pulled the trigger. The bullet imploded through its skull, bursting out the other end ramming into the wall behind it leaving the beast to fall to the ground, its jaw agape with crimson blood oozing out from its brow, life now depleted from its core.

His breathing was unsteady as he stumbled back, using the wall to help support his weight. His free hand shook as he stared at it, sweat beading his forehead. _'We have to get out of here quick.' _He thought.

Still a little traumatized he waited if he heard anything else before moving again. When he didn't, he replaced his gun in his holster, wrapped a shell belt around his hips and swiftly exited the storage room, finding and regrouping with his friends whom were already at his car awaiting for him to unlock it.

They climbed inside but before Sasuke had a chance to shut his door behind him, he heard the loud moan of something _big _followed by the quiet thunder of a tree crashing on the dirt of the forest ground.

Slamming his door closed, he shoved his key into the ignition, threw the car in reverse and pulled out of the parking lot and into the road, hearing the pounding of footsteps somewhere in the distance.

In the backseat Sai, Ino, Naruto, and Hinata turned to look out of the backseat window and screamed making Sasuke almost lose control of steering from the earsplitting sudden outbreak but he swiveled back into his correct lane. He checked his rear-view mirror only to have a heart attack himself.

Gaining up on them quick was the most popular barbarous meat-eating dinosaur; the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

"How is that even possible!" Naruto yelled, causing even more pain to Sasuke's ears.

With the driver completely paralyzed the car started to slow down, the T-REX closer than ever. It bent down and snapped its jaws at the little red car but missed being that Sakura took the wheel in her own hands and turned the wheel towards her just in time to pivot away from it's deadly clutch.

"Sasuke! Go!" Sakura shouted at him, making him snap out of it, he instantly slammed on the gas pedal, and took control over the wheel, the car easily accelerating from 40 to 90 within a few seconds outrunning the carnivorous monster behind them. It eventually gave up as it couldn't run as fast as the cherry red sports car, the six of them breathing out, relieved they weren't made into breakfast.

-x-

She aimed her two pistols at the target, the red circle on the trash bin, firing the right then the left, hitting it right every time. She practiced reloading her guns and re aimed again. Deciding that was enough practice she stuck her two handguns in her leg holsters, fixed the knife's sheath on her belt, pushed a strand of her short soft hair behind her ear, and went to pack her bag until it couldn't fit anything more.

Naruto was having fun with his machine gun while Ino and Hinata were helping each other pack their things and fix their belts while Sasuke was showing Sai how to work the rifle.

_'Dinosaurs.' _Sakura thought as she minded her own business slipping the antibiotics in the left side pocket of her pack. '_Red lightning.' _She wondered if their was a possible connection between the two as she recalled the reporters from yesterday's news cast. She glanced over at her friends, her gaze resting on Ino, she wondered what would happen when everything started to become more obvious to everyone. She wanted to help but what could she do? This was between her best friend and Sai but she promised herself that she'd support Ino all the way.

"Hey Sasuke, we don't have any cell phone connection up here do we?" She focused her attention on something else other than...well, everything.

"We're in the middle of mountains in the middle of no where ugly, of course we're not going to have any connection." Sai answered instead, smiling like he didn't say anything wrong. Naruto stared at him like an idiot.

"Sakura?! Ugly?! Dude! You've got some issues!" He argued, chuckling to himself. Sasuke locked eyes with Sai, broodingly, mentally trying to communicate with him as if saying, ' Every time you call her that, you'll get a foot to the face. '

"Easy, that's my nickname for her, of course I don't mean it personally." He held his rifle down from aiming and sweat dropped.

"Yup, just feel free to call him a fagot-y gay fagot, that's _his_ nickname." Sakura snickered, agreeing and holding victory in her expression.

"HA! Pawned!" Naruto resumed his packing after laughing and sticking a finger in Sai's face, he blinked a couple of times, his smile finally not so gay anymore. Sasuke smirked, and moved to packing his things as well as quickly as he could.

"Alright, everyone ready?" The Uchiha asked. Sakura slung her bag on her back and took a deep breath as did everyone else. Speaking for her friends as well, she spoke.

"Ready."

-x-

"Suigetsu?" Karin had her right hand over the nasty bleeding gash on her shoulder that she had received from running to fast within the jungle, her clothing teared here an there from various branches.

"Suigetsu!?" She called. It was quiet and the sun's rays beamed fire hot but thankfully she was shaded from all the trees as she carefully made her way in no particular direction, the direction she had been going for what seemed like hours.

"Suigetsu!" She was sobbing, all alone in she didn't know where. The last thing she could remember was driving through the storm, her headlights reflecting on the rain cascading down from the sky. The thunder was loud and made her jump every single time it bellowed. Next to her was her boyfriend, the man she was currently trying to find but was having a hard time doing so.

Blood trickled down her forehead into her left eye, stinging her vision. It wasn't like she could see out of that eye anyways, the lenses on that side of her glasses were cracked anyways from...from what? Now that she thought about it she couldn't recall. _Red...something...red?_

"Suigetsu!?" She tried harder to search her memories, successfully remembering the sound of skidding tires, then a crash? Did she get into a car accident? That would explain the bump on her head and the blood that came from it.

She ducked under a branch and continued to venture through the exotic looking plants and trees, giving up on wasting her energy on calling for him. Soon she came into a small clearing, spotting a cave across from her.. Maybe he had taken refuge here? She drew near it softly calling out his name once more. It was too dark to see so she turned around retracing her steps until she saw _it. _The raptor stared at her with its yellow eyes, growling. She took to steps back out of fear, deeper into the cave.

Two hands were placed on her shoulders making her scream and jump out of her skin. She flung her arms as she turned accidentally almost slapping the man that had been behind her automatically wincing at her open wound on her shoulder.

"Oi! Relax. They won't come in here, it's something about this cave that they don't like." He mumbled something about troublesome.

"It's, it's a- where am I?!" She shouted turning back around, watching as the creature 'roared' and sulked away back into the jungle.

"I honestly have no idea, but," she looked back at him, eyes watery. His dark brown hair was tied up high in a ponytail but he was actually good looking. "I've been thinking it has to do something about the storm, I've never seen red lightning before, it struck my house and then the next thing I know I'm here. Luckily, I woke up in that small clearing over there before I was eaten by a dinosaur." He pointed his chin behind her.

"I'm Shikamaru by the way."

"Why didn't you come out before? When I was calling for Suigetsu...Suigetsu! Do you know where he is?"

"I'm sorry but the only other human I've seen around here is you. He could already be...dead by now." She was speechless. He closed his eyes.

"I just hope nobody else get's caught up in another red lightning storm."

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><p><strong>Tell me if the plot gets confusing at some point. I'll make a special chapter to explain it better. If it isn't confusing then booya. :)<strong>


	5. Stained Red

Forever

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto<p>

* * *

><p>They set out on their journey, each carrying an extremely heavy and large backpack upon their shoulders. The heat was mild, but nonetheless a few drops of sweat were visible on their bodies. It had been an hour since they've been hiking and hadn't had a counter with any of the wild beasts. They moved as quietly as possible, but couldn't avoid the gentle crushing noise of leaves as they stepped through the wilderness..<p>

Sakura held her breath as she watched dark menacing clouds slowly cover the dull sky, masking it a deep depressing gray. Jumping slightly when a squirrel decided to jump out in front of her feet, dashing across the small narrow path they were following and then disappeared into a nearby tree. Ino gave her a worried look but she waved her had at her best friend, signaling her she was alright, it was just a mammal. Sasuke was as serious as ever which was unsurprising, but what _was_ surprising was that Naruto held the same expression such as the dark haired man walking only a couple of paces in front of herself.

She had an hour to think- to fully express her surroundings, and in that hour, she decided that she would risk everything, including her own life to save her friends'. _After all, _She thought, _it is my fault that we're in this mess. I was the one who agreed to become temporary roommates with Naruto and Sasuke. I was the one that could have worn something else to conceal myself better when I went out to go get those stupid eggs for my stupid brownie batter...Stupid brownies. It all comes down to my obsession with those stupid things. Great, just wonderful._

Thunder could be heard in the distance if you listened closely. Immediately Sakura cursed herself for not thinking about bothering to I don't know maybe grabbing an umbrella before hauling ass out of the store. This week was just a...just a...well it was just a cluster fuck. There was no other way to describe it.

It was surprisingly quiet all this time they had been hiking until of course the thunder sounded up. The moans of giant reptiles made them uneasy along as those weird sounds velociraptors make.

She wondered where the ancient creatures could have even came from in the first place, it was seriously, physically, impossible. Her mind eventually pondered at the movie 'Jurassic Park' that she'd always enjoyed watching. What if some stupid noob did the same thing? Man, would she kill him, it was nice to see it in the movie, but in real life that would be just chaotic. Oh wait, it would turn up into a disaster kind of like the one happening right now, oh the joy.

While Sakura was rambling to herself inside her mind, Sasuke was on full alert, keeping his breathing steady as he focused all his attention on his surroundings not letting even a single sound escape his ears. His shotgun was locked and loaded against his chest, his finger on the trigger. His onyx eyes were sharp and keen as they scouted the forest while he moved, capturing every single aspect they passed over with caution. They all moved in a pack, all keeping the same steady pace holding their guns in a ready to fire position, Sasuke leading the way while the rest followed up closely behind.

"We're never going to reach the shelter if we keep moving this slow." Naruto quietly whispered to Sasuke next to him, voice barely audible that if Sasuke had not been devoting all his attention to his hearing he would not have heard him. He nodded his dark haired head in agreement to his best friends statement but held a finger to his own lips before placing it back on his gun again. He turned back to face Sakura and the others signaling them that the needed to pick up the pace. They eyed him warily knowing that the faster they went the more noise they'd make. They carried on though, obeying his directions with tensely stressed shoulders. Another hour passed as they made their way through the wilderness with luckily still no sign of any dinosaur.

Well that was the good news, the bad news was that the storm was eminent, the clouds were as dark as night completely swallowing up the once blue sky. The wind suddenly intensified, whipping their hair in every direction, momentarily abolishing their well groomed vision. The wind changed direction blowing strands of different colored silk locks out of their faces.

It was quiet, too quiet. No thunder, no nothing but the sounds of their heavy breathing and quick heartbeats. That's when Hinata wished she had super x-ray vision at that moment as they stopped to turn and face each other. Something just didn't feel quite right. They all sensed it, _something _was nearby. Ino gripped the one pistol in her hand until the point her knuckles turned white obviously gripping the the handle way too tight. Sai, who was beside her, stepped closer to his love in a ready-to-die-for-her position as rustling among bushes could be heard. Hinata's breathing hitched like Sakura's did as they aimed their guns in the direction the noise was coming from, just like how everyone else had.

There was one particular bush in which the most movement could be seen that they all focused their weapons and attention to. Sasuke though, remembering his first kill at the store made a motion to stand behind Sakura facing the opposite direction the others were, eyeballing the shrubs carefully. Sure enough he spotted the reptile camouflaging within the leaves.

"These things are smart, they make you believe they're right in front of you and then one of its 'friends' attacks you from behind. They created a circle then, back-to-back each facing different directions as several raptors emerged from the darkness of the wilderness. Each of their heartbeats went into double-time as sweat trickled down their foreheads.

"I see what you mean, they even had a plan B." Sai's eyes darted back and forth counting how many there were; eight.

"We're outnumbered!" Thick saliva dripped from the demons' nasty mouths, their dagger-like claws sending shivers along their spines, making the hair on the back of their neck stand on end.

One let out a shriek as the others slowly approached getting closer by the second, growling hungrily. The first few raindrops finally let out from the looming sky, splashing against their cheeks. Sasuke damned everything to hell at that moment praying for a miracle, any miracle to happen.

Lightning flashed shaking the ground beneath them making the raptors' heads shoot up looking sideways all around them as if they were listening, waiting for something. Soon they returned their focus on their prey, whom pointed their guns in defense, ready to fire.

"Don't shoot! There's too many of them!"

"Then what do you suppose we do Naruto desperately argued with Sasuke. He bit his lip.

"We...we need to make some kind of plan first!"

"Like what?! How can we possibly do that at a time like this?! Are you crazy?!" Naruto panicked. Sasuke bared his grit teeth in frustration. _Think, think, think! _He cursed himself, why couldn't he concentrate?

He just didn't know what to do, he couldn't focus, everything was constantly on him, all he wanted was a break, that's all he ever asked for, and then god gives him dinosaurs to deal with.

"Do we have any flares or grenades?!" He called.

"I'm afraid not." Hinata answered.

"Damnit!" Naruto swore under his breath. "All we can do is shoot Sasuke!" Sweat dropped into said man's eye but he didn't dare to remove his hands off his gun to wipe it away though the burning sensation was immense. He'd never fought against a mob of giant lizards before, heck no one had it made fear swelled up inside of him. These things were a lot terrifying in real life than when they stared in documentaries on discovery channel. Man did he wish he'd watch more of those things to brush up on his Dino-facts.

The ugly creatures inched even closer forcing the six of them to press their backs against one another.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried, trauma embedded in her voice.

The rain began its full downpour at that point, soaking them to the bone. Lightning struck a few yards away sending a jolt of electricity flaming through their bodies, extracting screams from both them and the dinosaurs. The monsters fled instantly from the electrically charged area while the three pairs dropped their guns on the muddy floor to clench their pained insides, hugging their wincing bodies while tightly shutting their eyes.

They should have been dead, having been so close to the strike, they should have died. The thunder that came with the strike was also agonizing, voiding their senses. Another lightning strike pounded against the Earth, this time a little further away than the last. It split a rather large tree directly in half, setting it on fire and leaving it to collapse on them.

"Watch out!" Sakura yelled, scrambling out of the way pulling Ino with her.

"Hinata!" She screamed as she watched her friend fall to the ground, still trying to cope with her pain."

"Hinata!" She lunged herself at her shoving her out of the way. Hinata's eyes flashed open now aware of what was happening. Then it felt as Sakura was moving in slow-motion as she turned her head from milky eyes to the tree overhead. It moaned as branches violently snapped and tore off as it grated against neighboring trees. Her knees paralyzed as she watched her life flash before her eyes and her hearing was clotted by her own heartbeat.

"No!" She could only hear Sasuke's distraught scream before all she could see became stained with red.

* * *

><p><strong>Stupid tree.<strong>


	6. Almost Found

Forever

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto<p>

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><p>His vision was blurry as he struggled to open his eyes. What happened? He forced himself to get up from the dirt; dragging his arms that were outstretched in front of him to his sides to support himself while he steadied himself on his knees and toes. Next to him also sprawled on the ground was his shotgun which he gladly suspended on his back, returning it to its rightful place. Now standing, he squinted at the blinding beam of sunlight coming from an opening in the canopy of trees above him.<p>

Where was everyone? He looked around noticing that he was in the middle of a small clearing and that the forest was different from before; now it was more jungle like, with palm trees and flowers he'd never seen before here and there. _Trees..._

He gasped remembering Sakura's eminent doom, him reaching out for her, leaping to shield her with his own body.

"Sakura!" His voice was shaky and stressed as he called for her. "Sakura?!" He almost chocked on his words as the pressure of tears burned in his throat. The jungle was spinning around him hurling nausea at his stomach but nonetheless, he continued to search for her and the others.

"Sakura?!" His eyes darted everywhere but found no one. "Naruto?!" He moved forward in no particular direction, but hysteria messed with his footsteps.

"Sa-Sasuke?" He swiveled around at the sound of his name.

"Sakura?" He felt relieved when he knew she was ok and pushed himself to run to her but as he got closer her familiar lush pink hair faded to a bright red. He slowed.

"Sasuke?!" This time he noticed how slightly deeper this person's voice was compared to Sakura's. His stomach dropped, it wasn't who he thought it was or who he wanted it to be.

"Sasuke!" She breathed in relief and jumped on him, weeping into his chest.

"Sasuke, you're alive! Wait-" She pulled back to face him, her arms still wrapped around his torso. He bore into her eyes seeing her lips move but not hearing the words coming out of them. Behind her a man that looked about his age emerged from the jungle and into the small clearing he was in. Said man brushed aside a tree branch with his forearm as he stepped into the clearing, opening his one closed eye lid and mumbled 'troublesome' under his breath.

"Karin, you are too loud, quiet remember?" The man walked over to Sasuke and Karin shoving his hands into his dark denim jeans. "I'm guessing you two know each other already so I'll just introduce myself then. My name is Shikamaru." Sasuke did not care about who anyone was at the moment he just wanted answers, _now. _And he also wanted to find Sakura as soon as possible to make sure she was ok.

"Where am I?" Sasuke asked sharply. He gently pulled Karin off him first removing her arms from his back. "Have you seen my friends?" He continued to question, well, rather demanded to know.

"There's others?" Shikamaru stared at him, refusing to believe that there were indeed more people that needed to be found other than Suigetsu. "How many?" He asked. It took Sasuke a while to count in his head because all he could think of was finding Sakura.

"Five."

"Plus Suigetsu which makes six." Karin added turning her attention to Shikamaru. The two of them started to talk, but again, Sasuke automatically, without consent, tuned them out and frantically searched through the jungle with his eyes, looked around for his friends. He felt a tug at his hand after a couple of minutes and he looked down to see Karin pulling him to follow Shikamaru whom was currently heading into the jungle again, his back turned against him.

"Wait," Sasuke held his ground, Karin's efforts went weak against his strength so she let go. "Where are we going?" He asked.

"We're going to the cave where it'll be safe to talk." Shikamaru turned sideways to answer him.

"Cave? Is Sakura- Are they there?"

"No."

"Then we have to find them first!" Sasuke's voice grew louder with impatience each time he spoke.

"You need to trust me on this." Sasuke shot him a deadly look, clearly uncomfortable with the situation, but eventually, he hesitantly agreed.

-x-

"Well 'ain't this a piece of..." Naruto mumbled impatiently under his breath. _'Where did everyone go?'_ He jumped through the unfamiliar jungle grounds searching for his friends as well. He had this serious disturbing feeling brewing in his gut. First of all, from watching Sakura almost get smothered by a falling human torch tree and second, it was just this place! He felt eyes on him the whole time as he continued his pace between a walk and a run. Sweat was present everywhere on his body, making the humidity in the air feel even worse against his skin. And the worst part of it was, he didn't even know where he was, or what planet for that matter...

The last thing he could remember was this painful bright red light and then completely blacking out before he could do anything to save Sakura.

"Sakura?! Hinata?! Sasuke?!" He grit his teeth. How was someone supposed to deal with all of this?!

He still had his gun with him, it was perfectly safe mounted on his back leaving his hands free as they grasped onto tree branches for balance.

Naruto's foot caught on the roots of a tree and he slammed face first in the dirt despite his efforts of trying not to. _'Damnit!' _He put his hands out in front of him and pushed up from the ground.

Then he saw it.

From the corner of his eye, he stopped moving, completely frozen. His lungs refused to breathe. His arms refused to push him off the ground, or reach for his gun. It stared at him just as he stared back at it. It's monstrous face so close he could feel its reeking breath on his cheeks. He couldn't even blink. All there was, was his heart beat echoing throughout his body.

It rose from within the bushes towering over him and every locked, straining muscle a part of him. Sweat burned his eyes where he couldn't bring himself to blink. His limbs were screaming bloody marry. The dinosaur lowered it's face to smell him, nudging the side of his head as he became paralyzed. His gun...where was his gun? It wasn't on his back anymore, but rather sprawled out a couple of feet from him, too far for arms reach. It had fallen off his back when he tripped serving him no use.

He clenched his jaw, gritting his teeth. There was absolutely no way he could survive, to get away, to run or to cling to life. He shut his eyes tight, _'At least I won't go down without a fight.' _Was his last thought before he lunged for his gun.

His hands planted themselves on the weapon and he thrust himself off the ground, spinning to face the raptor but he wasn't fast enough, just as he already knew. Just as the raptor's vicious jaw was about to rip Naruto to pieces, a spear had imploded through the monster's face nailing it to a huge oak tree. Naruto's breathing was heavy with shock as he scrambled backwards trying to bring himself to his feet but only to fall on his butt again. And just like that the dinosaur was dead.

"One down, five more to go." Naruto's head snapped to look behind him. There stood a man about his age, the man that had just saved his life, and trailing right behind him was Sasuke and a girl.

"Sasuke! I found you! You're alive!" Naruto hurled himself off the ground to clobber his best friend.

"There's no time for that," Shikamaru held a hand in front of Naruto's chest, "we have to keep moving, there's fresh blood here, more predators are sure to arrive any minute. Also these things usually hunt in pairs or more. We have to leave, _now_." Naruto nodded in agreement without hesitation.

-x-

Ok, now she knew she was somewhere high, stuck probably, she faced the ground beneath her which she concluded it was a little more farther away then she would have liked. But what she didn't know, was how she got there. In this _tree._ The branches scratched her arms and she realized both her arms were hooked around branches to support her weight, her left foot was somewhere behind her also stuck on a twine of tree branches and leaves. Her back arched in the position she was in as her right leg dangled freely a good ten some feet off the ground. She was alone too, great, just great. Ino started feeling nauseous again from being almost upside down succeeding in gaining heart burn to deal with. Her body ached gruesomely as she tried to push up from the two branches on either side of her, trying to untangle her foot which she couldn't even see.

Down below her a small pack of at most five Saltopus dinosaurs raced by the tree oblivious of her presence in the tree. She blew a strand of her light blonde hair from her face in disbelief.

She tugged and tugged but she couldn't get her foot to budge from the tree.

"Come on!" _Stupid... _The tree branches supporting her upper body snapped sending her dangling by her ankle now. She held in a sharp scream from a deep pain growing from her limb. She swayed in the air still attached to the tree; back and forth each time bending her ankle in a way it shouldn't be bent. She desperately tried to get her self out of the tree at the point, not caring if she fell to the ground, she just wanted to get her foot out of pain _now_. She kicked the branches with her free foot breaking them and crashed on the dirt luckily having shielded her head with her arms and hands. She sat up checking her ankle moving it around, good news was it wasn't broken, the bad news was it hurt like hell.

Standing up careful not to exert to much weight on her ankle she backed up into the tree to support her as she regained her sense of balance and tried to fight the feeling of throwing up right there on the spot. She walked a good distance to particularly no where not saying a word, she had watched enough discovery channel to know that making sounds would be just like saying; Eat me now! Har har har...

But still, she debating calling for her friends. But most of all she wanted to find Sakura. The last image of her that she saw made her worry like a mother for her.

Her attention was interrupted by rustling amongst bushes to the left of her. She immediately limped back away from it her breathing already jagged. She reached for her pistol from her belt and held it positioned at the bush which had suddenly got very still. A bead of sweat slithered its way from her temple to her chin as her bright blue eyes stayed completely focused, her hand completely steady. It was as if time had stopped but yet she could hear the imaginary clock inside her head, _tik tok, tik tok. _

Its nose emerged first from the bush then slowly the rest of it came out and stood before her. Its reptile skin like velvet around its muscles, it had purple streaks like vines spread throughout its dark blood red body. Its eyes were green like slime and held hers at eye level in a strong lock. It had a few scars along its body. The most vivid one was along its eye, starting from just above its right eye's corner and weaving its way down under its jaw. Something though, felt odd.

It was very calm along with its eyes as it gazed at the female in front of it. It was also smaller than the average raptor, its teeth smaller as well as its claws. The gun in her hand started to quiver as she registered fully that a carnivorous dinosaur was standing right there. Right in front of her.

Suddenly to her right another appeared same color but with more red than purple. Its eyes were wild its teeth hungering to slice through flesh. It growled and she shifted her gun to aim at the bigger raptor and just as it was about to leap to pounce on her the smaller raptor jumped in front of her knocking the dinosaur into a tree. It growled and lowered its head near the ground. Its tailed raised in the back to support the change in his balance as he steadied himself into their natural battle stance. The other more vicious looking raptor roared as it walked away from the tree its focus never leaving its hunting partner.

Ino took this chance to escape and began running in the opposite direction of the two that had engaged into a fierce battle. Before long she ran into a wide clearing where a giant boulder lay in the almost-center. A top of this boulder lay something rather...pink and stained with red.

And that's when she realized it was Sakura.

-x-

Shikamaru, Sasuke, Naruto, and Karin had finally arrived at the cave after a tiring walk. This time though they went even deeper into the cave, a few yards into the entrance there was a oval shaped hole on the floor that stretched slightly into the wall. It was large enough to fit at least two humans in at once through it. They all slunk down into it it was about a three foot drop but the ceiling after the hole was pretty high and the floor slanted downwards as you ventured farther within the square like room. Nearby the sound of a small stream running water could be heard. All in all, being inside the cave sent a secured feeling over them as they were glad to have some kind of shelter. It was dark though, barely any light from the entrance seeped in to light the area. Knowing this, Shikamaru quickly set up a fire, easily doing this for he had some practice with it before. The fire instantly lit up and their rocky surroundings lit up, the stream of running water streamed down a giant stalactite and ran down the wall into a pool of fresh water. Along the left wall tally marks on were present. Sasuke counted them out of curiosity silently to himself. 1, 2, 3...15, 16.

"You've been here sixteen days?" He asked. Shikamaru glanced at his tallied wall like he was counting them himself.

"Yes," He answered back to him. Sasuke observed him thoroughly, he's only been here 16 days, yet he has already mastered how to kill a dinosaur with a mere sphere? As well as discover this highly convenient shelter? Shikamaru went on, "I was caught in a storm 16 days ago. Which reminds me, I want to ask the two of you something." Naruto and Sasuke sat down nodding him to go on. Sitting down as well along with Karin, Shikamaru continued, "What is the last thing you remembered before you woke up here?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him in continually rising suspicion. How did he know he 'woke up'? Naruto of course didn't realize what Sasuke did and went on to tell him.

"Well we were going someplace for shelter because dinosaurs were invading and then it started raining really bad as we were suddenly surrounded by raptors. All of a sudden there were two lightning strikes. They were both really close to us too, the first scared the dinosaurs away, and it was really painful, it felt like my insides were numb with this weird feeling of pain I've never felt before. And the second struck a tree and was falling right onto our friend Sakura and then before it actually crashed down on her...I saw red...and...and I can't remember anything else after that." Naruto answered.

"So you guys got caught in a storm as well. Well this proves my theory then."

"What theory?" Sasuke asked.

"It's the storm that's sending us here and the dinosaurs to our world. More specifically the lightning."

"By here and our world what do you mean?" Sasuke pushed.

"And what about the lightning?!" Naruto added.

"By here, I mean the past. Where dinosaurs ruled the Earth. By our world I mean modern civilization, our present time where humans inhibit the Earth. Now the lightning-"

"Woah, woah, woah, so your saying, we're in the past right now?" Karin interrupted.

"Precisely. Now the lightning is the cause of this. It works as a form of teleportation for a lack of a better word."

"You're shitting me..." Sasuke nudged Naruto with his elbow because of his choice of words. He shrugged him off.

Shikamaru was about to speak when footsteps were heard just outside the cave. Shikamaru held a finger to his lips signaling them to hush as he listened.

They came closer and closer to the entrance to the cave until they were able to hear that there were two pairs of feet out there.

"Raptors?" Karin whispered.

"No, it sounds to sloppy and light to be that. Raptors have heavier feet and they move cautiously. Whatever is out there isn't as cautious as they should be." Shikamaru answered in the same tone of voice.

Slowly, Shikamaru rose up and moved closer to the entrance careful to remain concealed in the shadows. He peered into the hole and what he saw surprised him.

"Hello." He called out. They heard gasps outside and more footsteps as all they could see was Shikamaru's back facing them. _Humans! _

Sasuke, Naruto, and Karin quickly rose up to their feet anxious to see who they hoped to see and moved closer to the entrance as well to see who it was.

"Quickly, come in we don't want to draw any attention especially with your injury." Shikamaru backed away from the hole allowing the two people to enter.

And in came Hinata and Sai.

* * *

><p><strong>Stupid Karin.<strong>


	7. Together but Separated

Forever

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto<p>

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><p>"Well, this seems easier than I thought it would be." Shikamaru amused as he retook his seat by the fire. Hinata and Sai were weary, even when they realized that Sasuke and Naruto were there as well. But still, at least they had a sense of safety being within the cave. As expected they had a sum of questions as well which he gladly answered as he did with Sasuke and Naruto. Now resuming where he left off, he continued.<p>

"Now then, the lightning. If I'm correct, the teleportation only occurs if you are struck by the lightning. I'm not really sure where, how, or why this type of lightning just came out of no where, I just don't have any clues or hints that can let me lead to a positive conclusion. But for now we can assume that this is the cause of the loss of balance of time." Karin hugged her knees as she had just remembered what she had to deliver to Sasuke as she stared at him still acknowledging Shikamaru. _Madara is back. _She kept going on about ways she could confront him with it, but either way was just not right. It would surely worsen the situation even though she didn't understand what it meant anyways. The only thing she could grip on was Itachi and how he had been so cautious and serious that night like he was almost...afraid.

She brushed it off though. There was no way a powerful Uchiha like himself could actually consider fear as a part of his emotions.

"Balance of time?" Hinata asked confused.

"Yes, things like this don't just happen. There has to be something that triggered this, a logical explanation."

"So you're saying if we purposely try to get caught in another storm and stroke by _lightning _we'll return home?" Naruto puzzled.

"No."

"Then how else do we get home?!" Naruto grew frustrated, not able to wrap his head around the concept of this whole dilemma. It was unreal. Sai and Hinata stayed quiet, just listening, waiting to hear a solution, a prediction, a way to live, anything.

Sasuke was almost at Shikamaru's state, he understood already what he was going to say next so went ahead and explained to his friend instead while Shikamaru silently nodded conformation in Sasuke's words.

"If we do that, there's no guarantee we'll end up in our time. We might even be separated to different eras as well and we absolutely can't risk that."

"Then what do we do?" Naruto folded his arms understanding where they were coming from. For this question Sasuke looked up at Shikamaru holding his breath. Whatever he was about to say would write out their future.

"We wait, survive and live. Somewhere in our time officials have to be researching everything that's been occurring up until now. There has to be some way to fix this, they can't just leave giant lizards roaming around streets turning people into prey. Brute force might punish at first, but the brains behind the brute force is what will decide who has the victory. And I'm willing to put my faith into them. To put faith into us, and our kind. I don't see any other way unless we come across more clues as to what's happening."

"But Shikamaru, you sound like a smart guy, can't you invent some kind of machine? You know, like a _time machine _or something?" Naruto leaned forward toward Shikamru, now sitting cross-legged with his hands on his knees supporting his weight; eyes glittering with hope in his eyes.

Shikamaru only chuckled at him. "Me? Invent a time machine? This isn't some kind of sci-fi movie." He leaned back stretching his back and rubbed his head yawning. Outside the sun was starting to set and he motioned for everyone to drink from the pool. "You guys must be thirsty, I know I am." He got up to go drink. Kneeling by the bed, he cupped his hands inside the water and brought it up to his mouth.

Sasuke stood up as the others flew to the fresh water source; only he did not drink. His eyebrows pulled together in frustration.

"So...you all are going to refresh yourselves while Sakura and Ino are still out there..." He clenched his fists tightly to his sides. Naruto turned with wide eyes to face Sasuke, remembering how they weren't with them, safe. Soon Hinata and Sai followed in suit.

"Sasuke's right," Sai spoke up, "We have to look for them! We've already wasted so much time!"

"Looking for them now will only get ourselves killed, the sun is going down and we'll be at a disadvantage for those who hunt at night. It's suicide."

"So what! Do you expect us to just let them die if they are out there?!" Naruto stepped closer to Shikamaru with every sentence he hurled at him. Sasuke's head was down as he was still by the fire a good 12 feet away from Shikamaru, with his bangs shading his eyes as his jaw flexed. _'This guy is really going to try to stop us?' _He pondered. Hinata held a hand to her chest stepping back away from the bad vibes starting to bloom from the argument, she wanted to go after her friends as well, but she knew Shikamaru was right.

Karin stepped next to Shikamaru pushing Naruto gently away from him and spoke, "Stop it, Shikamaru is right, I want to find Suigetsu just as bad as you want to find your friends but we can't afford to risk all of our lives for three. It's not worth it!" She fixed her glasses on her bridge.

"Not worth it? They're our friends! Of course they're worth it! They'd do the same for us so even if we have to leave ourselves we still need to go after them!" Sai said with a steady voice but still prompt.

"You guys can stay here! No ones telling you that you have to risk _your _lives for _our _friends!" Naruto's voice added, escalating.

"Lower your voice are you trying to give us away?!" Shikamaru half said - half whispered. "I won't let you leave, we have to stick together! The more there are of us the greater the chance we'll have to survive!" He brushed Karin aside with his shoulder now in Naruto's face. "Besides! How do you know they're in this time era?! They could be someplace else!" Naruto bared his teeth at him, his eyes glared holes into his skull.

"I get where you're coming from Shikamaru, but it's a risk I'm willing to take, a risk we're willing to take."

"No, I can't let you bring harm to yourselves!"

He had enough of it. Of this. Of him. Of this argument. The Uchiha marched right up to Shikamaru, a new confidence and anger brewing in his chest. He grabbed his shirt and pulled him to his face as he told him off with a dark menacing voice filled with a power he didn't know he still had after all that's happened. Naruto stepped back with a smile across his face and folded his arms. _'We just won.' _He thought to himself.

"Now you listen to _me_. Me and my friends are going to save them. Whether you like it or not is your problem," He slightly shook him as he spoke, "You are not in charge of us, you don't get to control the decisions we make, it's our lives. Now we are taking our things, and our weapons, and we are going out there, with or without _you_. I _refuse _to let any more of the people _I _cherish die, or get killed. _Never again _will I let that happen. And nothing you can say, or do, will stop me." He let go of his shirt as he pushed him back away from him. Shikamaru slightly panted feeling his ferocious aura. He and Karin backed off finally and just watched them as they took a hold of the packs they had lain on the ground earlier.

Naruto was smug as he grabbed his shotgun and pack. Sai did the same as well as Sasuke; slinging their packs over their shoulders and loading their guns.

Without looking up Sasuke spoke to Hinata. "I understand if you want to stay here, in fact it would be better if you did, I don't want to risk you getting hurt," Sasuke stood up now looking at her ready to go and slightly smirked. "If I did, if not Naruto, either Sakura or Ino would seriously hurt me, maybe even both." Naruto kind of blushed at this statement and placed a hand behind his neck laughing nervously. She now understood Naruto took a liking to her and she smiled in relief, slightly bowing to them.

"Thank you," She stood up, returning her hand to her chest as if she were clutching her necklace. "But please, be careful."

Naruto grinned his cute crooked smile and winked at her.

"Oh and guys," Shikamaru walked closer to them putting his hands in his pockets, "see more with your ears and nose than with your eyes. Good luck, your going to need it."

"Hn." They nodded.

-x-

**-Earlier-**

Her heart stopped. There was Sakura, her arms were out stretched on either side of the boulder. There she was, her head hanging upside down off the boulder, dried blood stained her temple and lip. There she was in tattered clothing, an unconscious beauty.

"Sakura..." Ino was frozen, her feet glued to the ground.

"Sakura!" Her breathing was heavy as she fought to gain control over it. "No, no, no, _no!"_ She sprinted to her, tears already chocking her throat threatening to pour down her face. When she got closer she could see that Sakura was injured, her head as well as her chest were badly injured. Her hands and arms were singed as well was her clothing. Her shirt barely covered her breasts as most of it was either torn or burnt off. Her toned belly was fully exposed and had stains from the scratches that had oozed blood down her torso and slightly up the side of her neck. But she was still alive!

Ino slightly relaxed when she saw her chest rise and fall from her breathing. Thank _god!_

Behind her she could hear the roar of the two lizards that were battling making her snap around towards the noise. Then all became silent.

Cautiously she turned back to face Sakura. What the hell was she going to do at this point. Carry her? To where? She looked down at the ground in thought, discovering Sakura's sack of medical supplies. She quickly grabbed it and placed it next to Sakura's hip and zipped it open. She dug through it finding some rather large cotton balls and a bottle of rubbing alcohol. She twisted the cap open, wet the cotton, and began cleansing her stomach and arms of the dried blood. She was about to get started on her chest when she heard another moan eject from the jungle.

_'We need to get out of here. Now.' _She quickly resealed the open rubbing alcohol container and shoved it into her pack. She moved Sakura into a sitting position supporting her head on her shoulder and placed her bag on her back.

"Sakura," She nudged her shoulder seeing if she'd wake up. She didn't. When that failed, she removed her own backpack from her back and put it on her front. Ino moved to Sakura's feet, turned to face away from her and then backed in between her legs grabbing her arms and putting them on her shoulders. She leaned forward and hooked her arms around both Sakura's legs now fully supporting her weight on her back.

"Ok Sakura, we can do this." She spoke to a still unconscious Sakura. She trudged on with the dread of the setting sun.

She walked for what seemed like hours, but the sun was still lighting her path in some way. Slowly but surely, that light was disappearing.

She was weak, her knees wobbled with every step she took in particularly no direction looking for some kind of shelter, but finding none. In her mind she started recalling the embedded picture of her home, finely decorated with lavender chiffon curtains. A lovely plush white couch in the center of the living room faced a glossy black TV. Next to it was a chestnut colored coffee table stocked with lots of fashion magazines and freshly baked cookies. Along the walls were lit vanilla sugar scented candles that gave the room a warm cozy feeling.

How she missed all of it. How she wanted all of it, to crawl into the ball at the end of that soft sofa seat and eat those warm gooey cookies that had just come out of the oven. How she wanted to relax while reading the magazines with her TV on a music channel playing her favorite music in the background.

It all felt so distant as she put one foot in front of the other. Wind ruffled the leaves all around her and blew her hair out of her face for a brief moment. Sakura was getting heavier and heavier on her back to the point where she had to put her down for a while to rest. She sat down next to her against a tree and leaned back too exhausted to remove her pack as well as Sakura's. Sakura's head was facing towards her slightly titled down. Her right arm folded across her waist while the other lay next to Ino, palm up. She looked so peaceful, yet torn; like an abused doll.

Ino was in a similar position mirroring Sakura. She was nauseous again. She couldn't stand this feeling. And on top of that she was hungry. It hit her like a ton of bricks all the while she'd been dragging herself along. She sighed. For some reason, that made it worse. She quickly turned to her left and puked. Her torso muscles that squeezed hurt like hell, but she got all that wanted to come out, out. She wiped her lips on her outer forearm completely disgusted.

She leaned back against the tree again and looked up. Only to come face to face with a familiar scar face.

-x-

It was quickly becoming dark since the trio left the cave. They stayed close together with Sasuke leading the way. Sai made sure nothing caught them off guard from behind and Naruto watched the sides as they walked in a sort of line fashion. They moved hastily through the jungle, not making any noises besides when their feet snapped branches as they stepped. With his dagger, Sasuke engraved X's along the trees so they could find their way back to the cave, or if by any chance Ino or Sakura happened to run into them, they'd either follow it back to shelter, or right to them.

Nearby, they heard a scream.

"Ino!" Sai gasped knowing her voice when he heard it. They all looked at each other before they broke into a sprint still marking trees as they went slicing the bark as quickly as possible all the while calling for Ino but receiving no cry in return.

-x-

It had followed them all this way, that same raptor from her encounter earlier, and she hadn't even noticed it.

The monster picked up Sakura with its jaw extracting Ino's bloody scream. She scrambled back desperately trying to get the gun in her hands to shoot but stopped as she saw it place her on its back instead of devouring her. Her hands shook uncontrollably as she pointed the weapon at its face. Sakura was unscathed by its way of putting her upon itself. Her face lay against its neck as her arms and legs dangled freely on either side of its body.

"Give her back!" She cried like it would understand her. Tears spilled from her eyes without her permission. The creature moved closer to her and knocked away the gun from her hands with one swift movement with its head sending it skidding across the dirt. It moved in closer to her face allowing its breathing to gently ruffle the hair framing her face. She shut her eyes, defenseless, but nothing came, to pain, no blood, nothing. She reopened her eyes only to find the dinosaur still looking at her. Then it shut its own eyes as if trying to tell her something. She backed against the tree still on the floor. A low growl came from its throat, but it sounded unusual, not like a normal growl. It lowered its head and nudged her belly, then the side of her face and moved back, giving her some space. It reopened its eyes but kept its head lowered.

A while passed and Ino's panting slowly resided to normal. The raptor was still in the same position, still staring at her but not moving an inch. Slowly she stood up, her hands placed behind her resting on the tree as she regained control over her shaky legs. Still, it didn't move.

_'No way...' _She thought. Testing it, she drew in a deep breath and walked closer to it, reaching out her hand. It took a step forward to her making her jump back, her heart pounded in her chest. Trying again she held out her arm once more and this time didn't flinch when it placed its snout against her hand allowing her to caress it like you would a horse. Its skin was rough and scaly and she could feel the muscle in its jaw and in its neck as she stroked him repeatedly growing comfortable with it. The dinosaur nudged her stomach again and started to walk off carrying Sakura.

Ino was frozen in her place not believing what had just happened. Did she just do what she thought she just did? _Bond _with a dinosaur?

When the raptor realized she hadn't followed it, it walked back over behind her and nudged her back, pushing her forward until she started to walk by herself. Then it trotted in front of her leading her to who knows where. As she followed it she removed her bag from her front and looped it onto her back where it was properly worn. She walked closer to its side thinking about earlier where it had started to brawl the other raptor that had appeared. She now realized that it had saved her from the other bigger dinosaur.

She wondered if she was dreaming this whole thing up. She wondered if perhaps she was still sitting on the ground beside Sakura and had possibly fallen asleep. She pinched her self, the pain that came with it told her she was awake. She bit her lip as she followed it and it glanced back at her. In the distance the cry of dinosaurs could be heard. The raptor grunted as if telling her to pick up the pace. Immediately there after she had to walk faster to keep up with the lizard.

Minutes had passed and the sun had completely vanished, leaving the moon to rule the sky.

-x-

Their eyes searched for any signs of movement as they continued to search for Ino and Sakura.

"Wait." Sasuke stopped moving, hearing shuffling leaves. Remembering Shikamaru's advice, he shut his eyes and held his shot gun close to his face. _See more with your ears and nose than with your eyes. _He took a deep breath and listened.

"What Sasuke?" Naruto asked, frustrated that they stopped moving.

Sai covered Naruto's mouth. "Shh, listen." Sai closed his eyes and retracted his hand as Naruto obeyed.

To their right, and directly in front of them, faint breakage of twigs could be heard.

The moon bloomed from the clouds gifting them with valuable bright light bringing the monsters' glossy yellow eyes to view. They were filled with hunger and a calm, waiting anxiousness.

The three of them emerged from the darkness of the bushes. They snapped their jaws at the three, their thick saliva dripped onto the floor as they continued to walk closer to Sai, Sasuke, and Naruto making them stumble back into shrubs. Whatever kind of dinosaurs they were, they were not able to be specified due to the lack of visibility. One of them, the one farthest to the left, let out a short low roar as they continually inched closer, step by step.

Out of no where, another dinosaur literally jumped out from the shrubs behind them, its jaw agape sounding its loud siren. The three creatures in front of them jumped back a couple feet in surprise from the sudden random dinosaur.

Panicked, Sasuke, Sai, and Naruto dove out of the way at the same time their predators had done. They quickly took hold of their guns and aimed without really seeing their targets having been too clouded with anxiety and fear as they huddled together.

Strangely enough though, the dinosaur that had leaped in from behind was warding the other creatures off as best as it could.

Ino emerge from the same shrubs as the monster had came out of with wide eyes as hers met Sai's.

"Ino? Ino!" Instantly tears weld up in her eyes as Sai rushed for her, hugging her like he would never _ever _let her go. She buried her face in his neck's warmth.

"Sai, Ino!" Naruto intervened the two, "Save the reunion smooches for later." He motioned them to behold the lizard chaos about to unfold. Now fulling paying attention to the dinosaurs, Sasuke as well as Sai and Naruto noticed the moonlight reflecting off a soft, glowing, baby pink ball upon one of the dinosaur's backs.

Shock overwhelmed him as he didn't think twice about retrieving Sakura.

The raptor holding Sakura sensed Sasuke approaching him and swiftly dodged the snapping teeth of its attacker and rammed into its side, pushing it against its partner to the left, managing to shove the two of them out of the way at the same time. The monster still standing on its right came after the defending raptor as it had its back turned to it going for Sakura but with some weird cleverness, it snapped its tail at the charging lizard sending it skidding into a tree, its jaw responding with a muted popping sound. The impacted dinosaur shrieked in pain and slumped to the floor struggling to get back up on its feet.

Seizing this opportunity with no hesitation, Sasuke lunged for Sakura, ignoring anyone who tried to stop him from putting himself right in the middle of a war. He slung his shotgun between his backpack and his back freeing his hands so he could grab Sakura. He took hold of her wrist and slid her off carefully. The raptor holding her glanced back at him for a split second and lowered its body so that Sakura easily slipped off of it. With its tail, the velociraptor had almost placed the pinkette right into Sasuke's arms.

He turned just in time to evade the dinosaur that flung itself at him after it had regained its footing from being slammed into the tree. This time, the raptor defending him and his friends quickly swiveled around to sink its sharp teeth deep into the neck of the lizard before it could try to pounce on Sasuke and Sakura. The other two beasts that were now unoccupied began to close in on Sai, Naruto, and Ino.

Sasuke backed up, his mouth slightly parted in witnessing the crisis in front of him. He cursed to himself under his breath, desperately trying to put together a plan to escape. Holding Sakura bridal style in his strong arms, he swallowed his fear with the strength of his determination to save her. He had made a statement to Shikamaru before he left the cave and he wasn't about to turn it into a lie just because he wasn't man enough to save a 'damsel in distress.'

Taking in a deep breath, he surveyed the situation in a matter of seconds but to him, it felt like minutes as all around him paused to slow-motion. The raptor defending them let go of its grip on the other creatures neck and had turned to stop the other two from getting to the others whom he and Sakura were separated from. Roaring, the raptor ran to rescue Ino, Sai, and Naruto, leaving the creature that was bleeding from the neck to charge for Sasuke and Sakura. He was at a disadvantage, as now he had no hands to shoot. His heart pounded in his ears as his world slowly started to accelerate back to reality's time.

He closed his eyes. Naruto, Sai, Ino and that raptor were enough to kill off the two after them. He killed his friends off his mind and focused on himself. He could hear heavy footsteps quickly approaching him as he thought. He looked up, a fierce fire boiling in the depths of his midnight eyes. The dinosaur was still a good distance away from him leaving him enough time to turn on his heal and _run_.

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><p><strong>I wonder what it's like to have a pet dinosaur.<strong>


	8. Cry for Help

Forever

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto<p>

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><p><strong>Warning: This chapter may be slightly on the disturbing side. As in dinosaur goes omnomnom to another dinosaur. So if you don't like that kind of stuff, just skip that part. It's not that long. ;)<strong>

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><p>Now in the moonlight, Sasuke could see that the dinosaur he was running away from was another velociraptor. Wasn't there any other dinosaurs other than this species? Jeesh, he was so sick of them.<p>

He needed to think up a plan and he needed to do it fast. Slowly he let his older more calmer self take control of his emotions. As the distress on his face leaked away, he was fully aware of everything now; the sounds as well as the smells of the jungle eluded him and he found himself better adapt to seeing in the dark. Of course with the help of the moonlight, he noted the end of the ground a couple of meters away. The trees were letting up giving him a clear view of a stranded vine hanging directly in his path over the cliff. Perfect.

The dinosaur behind him wasn't too far behind even though he was running as fast as he possibly could while holding Sakura. He was quickly approaching the cliff in a matter of seconds, the dinosaur behind him was completely oblivious to the fact of it.

With all his strength, Sasuke propelled off the ground on his last step, locking Sakura close to his body in his left arm while grasping the vine with his right. His jump sent the vine with him swinging outwards to the bottomless dark pit beneath him; a deadly fall. The raptor tailing him ran right off into its doom, flailing and screaming as it fell to its death. The vine, still impacted by Sasuke's jump, swayed back around over the ground. Sasuke let go of it and gently stepped onto the dirt floor, his breathing heavy and quick. He had just tested his luck. That vine could have snapped, or the dinosaur could've stopped and he'd have swung right back into its hungry trap.

He shook off the thoughts of what could've happened and checked to see if Sakura had awaken. She was slumping against him as he stood, still no signs of her awakening. He looked around with his eyes as he repositioned her in his embrace, carrying her bridal style once more. It was like he was carrying an over sized doll as he struggled to prevent her head from flopping over. With his elbow he shifted her head to rest against his chest, and began looking for some kind of shelter.

He didn't even bother retracing his steps because as soon as he faced the way he came from, all was lost to bitter darkness and trees. Moonlight hardly shown through now, due to midnight clouds.

He took a deep breath trying to calm his still pounding heart. If he wasn't calm, he wouldn't be able to hear anything, much less focus.

As he cautiously went on, he eventually ran into a hallow tree, submerged by leaves. It was ideal for camouflage. If it hadn't been for the moonlight that had shone on it directly, he wouldn't have seen the gap amongst the shrubs concealing its entry. Again, his luck had proven loyal.

Giving his surroundings one last check for predators, he entered the tree trunk without hesitation.

-x-

He was glad that he'd attained the knowledge of creating a fire from the times he had gone hunting in the woods with his father. Now he used those outdoor skills to set up a fire from twigs and leaves. His eyes shot up to Sakura who was emitting quiet whimpering sounds. He had lay her near the tree bark to the left of the entrance. Every now and then he'd glance at her from time to time as he secured the entrance better, moving more branches and what not to completely hide the opening. The tree was big enough for a fire so he didn't have to worry about watching it as he quickly made his way over to Sakura, kneeling in front of her.

He stayed silent, not knowing what to say, and simply gazed at her. She fumbled with her facial expressions as she desperately tried to regain conscious. This is when Sasuke first noticed the stained blood along her neck and bosom; there was also a bit along her temple which trickled down the side of her cheek.

"Are you just going to stare at me? At least help me up." Sakura slurred with her eyes looking through slits; she barely made out that it was Sasuke. He didn't make any sort of noise, or let his blank face change as he lifted her up into a sitting position against the tree bark.

She winced in pain as this movement made her joints cringe as they bent. A few minutes passed of dozing in and out of reality before she finally built up enough strength to open her eyes even half way.

In front of her Sasuke was still staring at her, waiting for her to fully wake up. She was about to criticize him again for not helping her when the sudden fierce twinge of fire presented herself just over her heart. She grit her teeth, trying not to shout out in pain; her eyes showing clearly how much she was focusing on holding in the hurt. Sasuke noticed this and quickly grabbed her pack and placed it between them. He looked up at Sakura as if asking her what to do next.

She'd have rolled her eyes at him if it wasn't for a dull headache beginning to form behind her temples. Actually, she would have cared for herself except for the fact that she could barely move, and she couldn't even turn her head to look around for any injuries.

He could see the irritation on her face as she explained to him that he needed to clean the area first with the alcohol, put an anti-bacterial ointment over the opening in her skin, and then finally cover any of her wounds with whatever cloth she had in her bag.

"Not so hard, right?" She forced a small smile to her lips, despite the anguish she was suffering through. She felt as if she'd just fallen from the sky onto a hard as crap rock, not to mention her back and spine were oh so stiff.

Now that he knew what to do, Sasuke skillfully moved to clean her chest, trying so hard not to notice the way her shirt barely covered herself. Instead, he concentrated on the way she breathed, calm and with a steady rhythm. He absentmindedly tried to do the same with his as he realized his breathing started to become abnormal. Why though? His thoughts wandered to Naruto. That noodle head was slowly becoming righter with every second that Sasuke spent caring for Sakura.

He felt something for her. It was so obvious now that he really got a chance to just look at her. He puzzled the feeling. What was it exactly? He couldn't understand what was happening to him. Which brought him to confusion although his eyes refused to display it. Did he want to like her? No. His mind had a logical explanation as to why he shouldn't, but his heart wanted something else. He was no good for her. So why then? He pondered this question as his hands continued to aid her injury.

The gash on her chest was brutal. It rested just over where her heart functioned, just above her left breast. It was rather large too, extending from under what was left of her shirt towards the middle of her chest all the way up to the curve of her neck. It didn't look like it was inflicted by a living thing, so it had to be from the falling tree. It must have grazed her before they had been engulfed by the lightning he concluded.

She kept a hold of his eyes, watching him as he avoided hers. She stayed mute as did he, until something hit her. She looked around with just her eyes in a sort of slow motion fashion. No one.

"Sasuke, where are the others?" She asked him, her voice shifting from a low hum into a whisper. He remained quiet, still abstaining from her eyes.

Silence.

"Sasuke?" Again, he didn't answer.

"Answer m-" He moved up to her temple with a different cotton ball, cleansing another scrape as gently as he could now only several inches from her face. His deep concentration persisted as he was so deep into his own thoughts, he didn't notice Sakura beginning to grow uncomfortable. He looked away for a second, grabbing the Neosporin from her bag, and returned to her face.

"Sasuke, where are the others?" She spoke with now fully opened emeralds. This time his eyes shifted from her bruise to hers, acknowledging her question. He backed away smoothly, hiding the fact that he was shocked that he'd move so close to her. Immediately she relaxed.

"We got separated."

"Because of the tree?" She asked.

"It's more complicated then that." She looked at him waiting for him to explain but he didn't.

He moved his finger down to her chest injury and applied the ointment not knowingly making her flush. Sasuke removed his finger almost immediately as he recognized that she was blushing. He noted the increasing level of awkwardness and rushed to finish providing first aid.

"Where's the cloth wrap stuff." He murmured.

"Side pocket, right side." She replied to him in the same tone. He took out the soft, plush, white cloth and unwrapped it from its thick roll, cutting a piece off with his teeth. Sakura blushed again at his action; the way his jaw and perfect white teeth flexed around the white material was just so intriguing. She didn't even try to deny this sweet observation, or even stop gazing longingly and obviously at him as he removed his jacket, leaving a black tank top to cover his finely built torso.

"You're going to have to remove your shirt so I can bandage you. You can wear my sweatshirt to cover yourself when I'm done." He looked to the bottom corner of his vision, his cheeks were getting hotter by the second. Sakura on the other hand was already used to this kind of stuff being that she was training to become a nurse. Even so, she still hesitated. Being with Sasuke was a little different then treating a patient. Well, what has to be done, has to be done.

He started for her shirt.

"Wait! At least let me turn around first? I don't want you to... you know..." He understood and helped her face away from him. Then he began wrapping the fabric all around the upper half of her torso, hooking layers around her arm to cover her neck as well. After he was done, he turned her back around and put his light gray hoodie on her. It fitted her like he knew it would. The hood pooled all around her neck, the sleeves were way too long, and it looked like she was wearing a dress.

She chuckled to herself as she tried moving her arms, hoping that the more she moved, the faster the pain would reside.

"Here, let me fix it. You look like you're suffocating." He took out his dagger and cut away the sleeves so it dangled just above her elbow. Then he completely removed the hood, giving her neck plenty of room, and finally he cut half off of the bottom of the clothing to the point where it just covered her belly button. Well, he was never exactly skilled with the art of fashion, but it was good enough, it didn't matter to him anyways. They had bigger, meaner things to worry about.

"Thanks, remind me to get you a new jacket _if _we get home."

"Hn." Almost forgetting to, Sasuke rummaged through Sakura's pack once more and pulled out a large band-aid to cover the cut on her temple. Placing it on, he finally moved back away from Sakura, putting all the things he'd used back into her bag. It was humid inside the tree making them both sweat. It was time to put the fire out and get some rest. He moved over to the fire and was about to start putting it out with the scraps of cloth he'd taken off of his hoodie before Sakura stopped him.

"Hey Sasuke," He turned to look at her, pausing what he was about to do. "So are you going to tell me how we got separated from the others?"

"Tomorrow. It's late and we need to get some rest."

"But-"

"Just sleep for now, you're going to need all the rest you can get." He made a quick motion with the flick with his arms and instantly the fire was out, leaving them blind. He shuffled back over to her in complete darkness and placed himself right next to her. He had the urge to hold her as he slept, despite the warmth. He felt his hand around the back of her neck and then to her shoulder farthest away from him. He pulled her into him slowly and buried his cheek against her hair. Neither one of them felt like objecting to being this close to one another at this point.

His head slumped back after a while, against the tree. He couldn't sleep. There was just so much in his mind, so much tension in his muscles, ache in his body, worry in his heart. Stress was all he knew at the moment and he wondered how Sakura felt. How was she able to sleep so peacefully? Without any of her questions answered, without a clue as to what was happening around her. Yet she slept. Just like a baby against him. He'd almost figure her out by now.

She trusted him. He knew that now. Ever since they had met, she had put all her heart's trust into him. From agreeing to help him with the Akatsuki, to moving in with him, and just listening to him. Whatever he'd say, she would just...believe. Why?

He looked at her without blinking. Innocence. Is that what it was? Is that what was making her so naive?

He smirked to himself. He had been denying any kind of feeling for her because he was not good enough for her. Because he would bring her down. When really, he already has. He sighed, frustrated with himself. It was always like this. Any woman that would get involved with him would somehow fall. He destroyed anything good he touched from his family, to his friends. This is why he admired Naruto so much. He was his only friend that never did crumble. But now, that statement was invalid. He had also dragged his own friend, his own brother into this mess. It would've been better if he severed his bonds back then. He shouldn't have allowed them to become so close. He was a failure. He failed every one. His family, his friends, he failed his own blood brother, Itachi, as well.

He was so sick of himself. So sick of how hallow he was inside. He never showed it though. Not even to Naruto. The pain was always kept to himself. To him, it was just another memory. A memory that would never leave him. Never.

Now he had to think of a way to return to his friends. Not because he wanted to though, but for Sakura.

"Hey Sasuke," Sakura mumbled, temporarily waking up. "If it makes you feel any better, I didn't tell the others about-" She yawned, "-about you know...your family. I just wanted to make sure you knew that."

His tired lips twitched up into a slight smile. Something he thought he wasn't capable of ever doing.

"Sh."

Dark circles had formed under his eyes, emphasizing his exhaustion, and he finally felt himself drift away.

-x-

**-Earlier-**

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled as he saw his friend start sprinting away. The dinosaurs began to chase after him, Sai, and Ino. There were three dinosaurs, but one the dinosaurs seemed to be helping them. Whatever it was, he didn't trust it. But for now, all he needed to worry about was getting out alive. Now running through trees, Sai and Ino were in front of him, the two hungry dinosaurs were right behind him, and the other lizard was trailing on their tail.

He loaded his gun, cocked it, then spun around jumping back just as the raptor closest to him lunged for him. They were in mid air for a second, the monster's jaw was wide open, and Naruto fired. Immediately the lizard fell back onto the floor lifeless.

He also fell to the ground, supporting himself with his elbow.

"Naruto!" Sai had stopped running and turned with Ino on his side. Her hair tie had become lose, leaving numerous strands of blonde hair to pool around her face.

Just as the other velociraptor was about to pounce on Naruto, the one behind it snatch its tail within its murderous teeth and pulled it back with a quick snap of its neck. It slipped as it was tugged back, and gave numerous fierce kicks with its hind legs, successfully yielding a whimper from the 'good' raptor. Said dinosaur staggered back trying to regain its sight as his eyes are what had been hit by the kicks thrown at it.

Trying to scramble back off the floor, the lizard after Naruto clawed its teeth at him.

"Ino, stay here." Sai quickly threw the words at her as he ran to get to Naruto. He couldn't shoot at the dinosaur due to his lack of aim, especially with Naruto in the way; he had to get closer.

Naruto threw an arm over his face, shielding himself with his own limbs. The dinosaur had now rose up to its feet, now able to make a proper lunge and went to do so only to get a blow to the nose by the back of Sai's rifle. It inched back as Sai continued to hit it over and over. He had gotten the monster a couple feet away from Naruto allowing him to stand up.

Sai went to back away and shoot but the raptor was quicker, it banged his rifle right out of his hands and skinned his arm with its knife like teeth. Sai yelped, ripping away his left arm from its mouth before the raptor could fully crash his teeth further into his muscle and into his bone. A dull popping sound signaled that Sai had dislocated his shoulder. Before he could do anything about getting away from the attacking dinosaur, the other one (now with its vision) tackled it out of the way, saving him from death.

**(((Attention! This is where the warning from above takes place so skip if you don't want to read this part. It's not so bad in my opinion, but then again everyone's different. XD I'll mark the end of the scene with more bold words so all you got to do is look for bold and then pick off from there! I'm just doing this because some people might be a little more sensitive to these things. For those of you who don't mind the warning, just ignore the bold! ^-^)))**

It bit its shoulder and threw it on the ground. Trying to get away, the raptor tried to get up again accidentally flipping after it had fallen. The dinosaur helping them however was faster then their predator. It pinned the dinosaur on the floor with its foot before it had a chance to get up. It sunk its teeth into its neck and broke it in half. Instantly, the dinosaur became limp beneath it.

It backed off, the air finally quiet. This thing, whatever it was up too, was approaching it in a mind blowing, incredibly smart way. This wasn't supposed to be normal for a dinosaur. It was almost human like. Something dinosaurs should not be. At least not according to human studies.

Naruto let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding. He moved with Sai towards Ino, weary of the corps in front of him and the standing raptor. Its eyes glistened in the moonlight as it tore off a limb from its prey and swallowed it whole. Ino cringed into Sai, not noticing that his arm was covered in blood. Naruto and Sai just stared in disgust, arming their weapons just in case.

**(((Lol! Okay! Warning is done :) What happened basically is the good dino killed the bad dino and eated him the end!)))**

After the dinosaur had finished its meal-time, it trotted almost happily over to the three and motioned for them to continue. Soon they stumbled into the path of trees marked with X's and followed it all the way back into the cave. Naruto guided Ino and Sai inside and then through the hole to venture deeper into the safest part of their shelter.

The raptor following them remained in the shallowest part of the cave, being that he was too big to fit through the human sized hole. He sat down, facing the outside, like a dragon guarding its dungeon.

Once inside Ino jumped on Hinata, hugging her like she hasn't seen her in years. Sai and Naruto stayed behind, Naruto's hands where in his own pocket's and Sai was cradling his left arm against his side.

Karin sat near the fire like she had been before; she was hugging her knees tightly to her chest, with her chin resting on her knees. Naruto walked over to her and sat beside her.

"So where's Shikamaru?" Naruto asked. She turned her head to look at him, tears rimmed her eyes but she wouldn't let them fall.

"He felt guilty for staying, so he left to go look for you guys." She replied. Naruto stared at her with disbelief.

"You mean Shikamaru is completely alone out there by himself? Without no weapons or anything?" She nodded, biting her lip. "She brought his spear though." Sai sat down next to the two, hearing the news, he didn't mention anything about his arm, hoping none of them would notice his wound lying beneath his long sleeved shirt. Sakura was the one with the medical supply, so he wouldn't want to make everyone worried about him.

"We have to search for him then." Sai said.

"You can't," They looked at Karin with questioning faces. "He specifically told me to tell you if you guys came back, not to go after him. He said it would only cause more confusion and hassle. He also said that he has adapted to this environment and he knows what he's doing so don't worry about him, he knows his way back to the cave."

"She's right, Naruto." Hinata scooted over to them along with Ino. "Shikamaru wouldn't have said that if he didn't mean it."

"Shikamaru?" Ino was curious. "Who is Shikamaru? Oh and hi! I'm Ino, you are..?"

"I'm Karin."

"Nice to meet you." Ino smiled halfhearted at her, shaking her hand. "Anyway, so...Shikamaru?"

"We just met him today," Naruto explained, "He found Sasuke and I and then he showed us to this cool cave. Then Hinata and Sai stumbled here too, and he started to explain some really genius sounding things!"

"It wasn't that genius..." Karin mumbled to herself.

"And then we went to search for you and Sakura! And apparently I guess Shikamaru, who had a bit of a fit before we left, came after us because he felt bad because our little disagreement." Naruto finished.

"Sakura!" Hinata budded in, "Where is she? Did you find her?"

"And Sasuke?" Karin realized that he wasn't there.

Sai, Ino, and Naruto looked at each other before they started to explain what happened out there. They even explained to Ino about Shikamaru's observations and what they had discussed earlier.

The stench slowly came to her nose as she and Hinata listened to them. Oh how she recognized this scent. Awful. Gross. Almost disturbing. _Blood. _Karin fixed her glasses, her nose slightly twitching to the scent of it. She hated this smell, not because of some past, but because she just hated it.

Someone here smelt of blood. She looked at each of them; they bore scratches and scrapes in various areas, nothing that would leak such a strong smell into the open. Then she noticed Sai's arm. The cloth hiding it seemed to be a darker shade of black, and was torn.

"And now the raptor is right up there." Naruto pointed through the hole, finishing the story, making Hinata and Karin look at each other in astonishment. Karin decided to check the thing out after Sai was taken care of.

"Sai." Karin reached over and grabbed Sai's left hand stretching it out towards her. He winced holding back the pain from his shoulder. Slowly she pulled up his sleeve to reveal a deep gash. This was the first time he actually got a good look at it, being that he now had light from the fire; before he hadn't.

"Sai!" Ino gasped snatching Sai's hand away from Karin. She looked at his arm with huge watery eyes. He tried to take his hand back but she wouldn't let him, instead, he desperately tried to calm the hysteria residing behind Ino's expression.

"Dude! Why didn't you say something!" Naruto crunched his eyebrows together and continued, "When did this happen? It was so dark I couldn't even see!"

"Don't worry about it, it's just a little scratch, I'll be fi-" Sai was interrupted by Karin.

"Sai, I think you're misunderstanding the situation. This is way to deep to be just a little minor injury and you're already losing so much blood." He glanced down on his limb dreadfully, sweating. Now that he thought about it, he was feeling a little light-headed.

"This could get infected also," She continued, "Unless you have some antibiotics or something."

"Sakura has the medical supply bag!" Ino announced. "I think I saw some antibiotics when I went through her bag, if she comes here, Sai could be treated no problem!" She continued to state with hope.

"_If_ she and Sasuke get here in time. An infection that isn't treated can be fatal, especially because the bacteria spreads rapidly. Who knows when she'll be back."

Ino bit her lip. This couldn't be happening.

"Don't worry Ino." Sai caressed her cheek with his hand on his good arm, gazing at her the same way he had when they'd first met. "It'll be okay. I promise." Ino for once didn't back away from him like she had been, which made Sai sigh out some of the pressure about everything that had been worrying him.

"Let's get you cleaned up." Karin said while standing. She held out a hand which Sai accepted to help him up. She started to walk over to the little bathing area, still holding onto Sai's hand.

Ino's eye twitched.

"Actually," Ino got up and stole Sai's hand away from Karin again, smiling casually at her. "I'll take care of him, Karin." Sai slightly blushed, noticing Ino's unusual jealousy.

Karin backed off, confused. She sensed Ino's weird aroma but couldn't quite put a finger on exactly what it was.

"They're together." Naruto whispered.

"Ah. I see." Sai reminded her of Sasuke, and this was the cause of the sudden pang she felt in her heart as she longed for just that man.

-x-

Although Shikamaru's eyes were already adapted to the night, as well as his hearing and scent, he failed to notice the metal poking out from the ground. His foot hit it with a loud bang that left the iron to continue to vibrate with sound in the silence around him. He cursed under his breath, bending to rub his toe through his shoe, like it would help ease the pain.

"What the hell." Cautiously he bent to the floor and scattered the leaves that were concealing the metal. What he found shocked him.

"A door?" It was circular, with one of those wheels that you had to turn to open the passage. Clearly, it was man made.

His heart thundered in his chest, this meant savior. Placing his spear beside his feet, he placed both his hands on the wheel and twisted it. It took mass force to get the thing to budge so he could open the latch, providing the clear concept that it was rusted.

Opening it, he saw the top of a ladder which led down to total darkness.

"Well, down we go." Shikamaru said while digging out his lighter from his pocket and igniting it. He wedged his spear behind him in his belt, and with one hand he began his decent after closing the hatch now above him.

Reaching the floor, he found a lantern which he lighted easily with his lighter. He grabbed it for it provided much greater light then his igniter, and pushed along into a narrow hallway. Soon he came into a room with computers, and various communication equipment which left his eyes wide with hope.

He quickly rushed beside one of the radios, and placed the lantern on the table it resided on. He tried configuring with it, only to find it blank with no electricity running through its main motherboard. His eyes searched for some kind of generator nearby.

"Bingo." Locating the machine in one of the room's corners, he pumped its starter getting it up and running. Surprisingly, it worked and it instantly automatically turned on the hidden lights that were hanging from the ceiling along with all the machinery in the room.

Going back to the radio, he blew out the fire to the lantern and picked up the radio's microphone. Punching a few buttons and flicking on switches within the radio's tower, he turned on the station tuner and rotated the nob until he found a channel that wasn't vacant with static. After a while, he came across one and sent out a cry for help.

"Hello? Is anyone there? Can you read me? Hello?" He released the talk button on the speaker and waited for a reply.

"Hello?! Whose speaking? And where are you?!" A frantic but proper masculine voice responded; his words came through the transmitter broken, but it was clear enough that Shikamaru could understand the person. He couldn't help but be overjoyed.

"Hello! This is Shikamaru speaking. I'm not sure exactly where I am but my friends and I are in need of help, can you help us?!"

"I can't help you if I don't know where you are." Answered the voice.

"Look, I'm not certain of my exact location, but I'm in some kind of jungle. There are giant lizards, dinosaurs, everywhere. I repeat, there are dinosaurs." The voice didn't reply for about a minute.

"That's all we needed to know. I can help you now. You need to follow my exact instructions understand? Are you able to comply to this?" The man asked now with a steady voice and again cutting out.

"Yes." Shikamaru replied.

"Good. First of all, are you together with your friends at this moment?" He questioned.

"No, I'm alone currently. But I know where my group is, though it's a bit more complicated then that. We were separated, but I believe we can regroup in a matter of time." Again, there was a minute long pause after Shikamaru spoke.

"Are you good with numbers? Calculations?"

"Yes." Shikamaru responded.

"Alright. You have three days to gather up you're friends. After the sun sets on the third day, get to some kind of clearing where you can see the sky. We're going to set off multiple flares. Use this to pinpoint our location. Then come meet us. Once you get here, ask for me, my name is Hyuuga Neji. Did you get all that?"

"Yes." Shikamaru smiled.

"Good. After we send out the flares, we will give you a week's time to get here. I will set patrol around our borders that will search for you in that week in case you stray off your path to us by mistake. After the time I am giving you, we will presume that you are dead, and I will recall my people."

"I understand. Thank you." Shikamaru had so many questions to ask him, but held back knowing that even three days was a short amount of time, and he couldn't stand here wasting any more of it.

"Shikamaru, may you and your friends arrive here safely." Was Neji's last words before Shikamaru left the room.

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><p><strong>;( Nejiiii~ 3 <strong>


	9. Itachi's Confrontation

Forever

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto<p>

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><p><strong>Well, I finally go this chapter done, I've been sticking in like a sentence each day, today I just went extreme-o and wrote the whole thing! Lol sorry I've just been so preoccupied with my favorite game ever! (Tekken 6) But anyhoo, I hope this chapter is decent. <strong>

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><p>"If you want things done, you must do it yourself..." Itachi pondered this thought in his head. He cursed the time when he decided to follow this quote. To make things worse, he had just stepped in a pile of shit. Literal, shit.<p>

"Lovely." Again he spoke out to himself. He rubbed his shoe against the grass, taking off the filth that he had run into. He was definitely going to murderer a certain someone when he returned to Akatsuki's base. But to do that, he needed his brother's help. His chest broke out into a series of cough fits, some of which little undesired droplets of blood had escaped from his mouth. This was exactly the reason why he needed Sasuke's help.

Nearby there was rustling of exotic leaves, which Itachi took care to back away from. From the bush came out midget dinosaurs. He cocked his eyebrow at the creatures as the two of them just stared at him.

"Okay, what the hell." He mumbled to himself. He watched them closely as they approached him with weary eyes.

"I see now." Itachi bent down to them and pointed to the crap that lay a couple of paces to his left. "Is this your doing?" He asked the two lizards as if they would answer him. One of the two creatures tried to bite the hand he held up. Itachi's eyebrows furrowed as he pulled away his hand. He stood up and took out his hand gun from his cloak. He aimed and fired, easily taking the life from the lizards being as he did this sort of thing quite often. Except this time, it wasn't a mammal.

He pressed on, not really sure of where exactly he was going. He looked around at the jungle that surrounded him, it was strange; he had never seen anything like it before. The different kinds of plants that his eyes had embraced were exceedingly unusual, even the sounds that emitted proved the jungle to be not of his homeland.

"Damn Madara."

-x-

"He's getting worse!" Ino panted. Since they arrived at the cave, Sai's temperature had been rising steadily all the while causing Ino to become increasingly agitated.

"Ino, I already told you, we can't do anything for him other than what we are already doing." Karin shook her head as she spoke. She was seated on the other side of the cave across to the couple watching Ino as she hovered over Sai. She repeatedly bent over him and wet the same piece of dark purple cloth she'd torn off her shirt to replace it upon Sai's forehead. He lay against her right in front of their water supply just watching her with burning eyes, trembling terribly from his fever. She hushed relaxing reassurances into his ear as she fought to hold back the growing stream of tears welding behind her eyes. She had to be strong for him.

Naruto grit his teeth as he paced back and forth right in the middle of the cave. Outside the raptor guarding the cave's entry gave a low growl catching everyone's attention for a moment.

They bowed their head in frustration feeling useless. Nothing less than a piece of meat; that's exactly what they felt like as they had no choice but to do nothing but wait.

-x-

Beams of light showered in through the barricade Sasuke had perfected awakening him from his sleep. He breathed out the dull pain of his locked joints as he moved to shift their position. Beside him Sakura was disturbed from his sudden movement. It only took her a moment to flutter her eyes open.

"Morning." She whispered to him as she sat up, stretching. He grunted in response, finding out how dry his throat was.

"You wouldn't happen to have any water on you?" She asked him, apparently feeling as he did.

"No, Sai had our supply." Sakura made a weird noise, something in between a yawn and a sigh as a response to Sasuke.

"I'm hungry too." She mumbled to herself not intending for Sasuke to hear but he did anyway. He was hungry as well. The last time he'd eaten was on the road on the way to the Uchiha get away house. His stomach growled catching Sakura's attention.

"We probably should find something to eat huh?" She said as she threw her medic pack over her shoulders and secured it around her torso. Sasuke stayed silent, checking his gun to see if the bullets were caged in properly. His hands shook as he moved, traumatized from the events that had been occurring until now though his face denied it. Sakura bit her lip knowing that what Sasuke looked like now was exactly how she felt. She moved over to him placing a hand on his cheek to force him to look at her. Her eyes showed courage and a fierce determination to live. He was a bit taken back by this, by her dangerous aura that had somehow found a way to return to her complexion.

With tight lips she comforted him. "Snap out of it, or I'll make you myself." That was some comforting.

He just blinked at her, the warmth of her hand was still caressing his cheek even when she'd taken it back. She blazed at him with the same intense look until he'd made some sort of an acknowledgment. Folding her arms, she tapped her foot impatiently waiting for him to come around.

He nodded his head still not speaking, but the shaking in his hands had dispersed enough that now he was moving with confidence. She smiled sweetly glad that her weird therapy had worked on him.

Well, now what.

They were both ready to leave the tree, but neither of them wanted to go.

"Ready?" Sasuke asked.

"Ready to get eaten alive? Why yes, yes I am." Sakura was kidding when she spoke, but as soon as she said it it hadn't really turned out to be a joke in her ears. That _is _basically what can happen out there, and no matter what they wanted, they needed food. So what options did they have? Stay and die of starvation? Or risk the chance of getting eaten, find food, and possibly survive? Her mood dropped into dark glum.

"Yeah, forget I said that." She tugged on her bag straps, "Let's go, shall we?" She pressed on past Sasuke and moved the branches and what not to provide her entrance to the outside. Staying close behind her Sasuke had enough time to grab her elbow before she took a foot outside. He pulled her back surprising her.

"Hey!" She whispered loudly. Sasuke stuck his gun out threw the tiny hole she had made and whispered over his shoulder.

"From here on, you stay close behind me, have your weapons ready, stay quiet, and do as I say."

"Yes master." Sakura giggled quietly behind him making him roll his eyes. Of all times to be silly she chose now. He turned his focus back on the outside.

"Wait!" She pulled him back inside the tree almost making him fall on her from the sudden movement. He huffed his hair out of his face in frustration that Sakura had just scared the shiz out of him. "You forgot to tell me where Ino, Hinata, Sai, and Naruto are!" Sasuke's eyebrow twitched.

"Okay. I'm only going to say this once, so pay attention." Sakura nodded staring at him with ready eyes. "We got separated." With that he turned back to the exit and prepared to leave.

"I could've told you that myself." Sakura dragged Sasuke back further into the tree. "Details please." Sasuke sighed, not wanting to make Sakura twice as afraid of the surroundings then she already was. She didn't exactly leave him a choice so he tried to tell her as softly as possible. Surprisingly after he finished, Sakura didn't seem like she grew fearful. If anything, she became even more crazed looking.

"Alright then! So we just need to go back to the cave right? And hopefully they'll all be there?" Sakura wanted to reassure herself with exactly what they needed to do.

"We need to find the trees that we marked so we can find the way back to the cave." Sasuke clarified.

"And how exactly are we going to do that?" Sasuke tried to remember the steps he took from where he'd had the scandal with the raptors.

"Well were not too far from them." He answered after a few minutes.

"Alright then. Let's go." Sakura,oblivious to it, went ahead of him again only to make Sasuke step in front of her, giving her a warning look.

"Remember what I said pinky." Sasuke's nickname for her accidentally escaped his lips.

"What did you call me?!"

-x-

Shikamaru amused himself by coming out here. Thinking finding his new allies was going to be a troublesome task, it actually proved to be rather simple. He'd somehow stumbled into tree markings in the shape of X's, but what really amazed him is how quickly he had found them.

He followed the trail he knew had to have been left by Sasuke and the others cautiously until he came across an obstacle. The marks on the trees suddenly split into two directions giving Shikamaru two options; go left, or go right. Did they split up in their search for Ino and Sakura? He chose quickly, not wasting anytime.

Shikamaru hadn't moved a step before he found himself amongst another presence. He knew he shouldn't have made a sound but he needed to make himself known if it was a human that was near him.

"Sasuke? Naruto? Sai-" A dagger had been placed against his neck from behind. The person, whoever it was, had crept up behind him and Shikamaru hadn't even noticed it. Clearly, Shikamaru wasn't as adapted to the jungle as he thought he was.

He kept calm however and looked to his right hoping he'd at least catch a sighting of the person with his peripherals. He caught only as much as dark raven hair.

"Sasuke?! What are you-" The person pressed the knife closer to his throat forcing Shikamaru to stop talking.

"You know Sasuke?" It didn't really sound like a question by the way that the man spoke it but you could tell he wanted an answer.

"Who are you?"

"Answer me first." He demanded in a monotone voice.

"Yes, I know him."

"Take me to him. I need to speak with him." The man released his hold on Shikamaru as well as retreating his weapon within his sleeve. Shikamaru backed a safe distance away as he turned to face what looked like a Sasuke.

"You are apart of Akatsuki?" Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at him, knowing about the popular gang. He didn't let a single movement of his escape his sight from that point on.

Without a word, Itachi showed Shikamaru his left wrist that bared Akatsuki's red cloud symbol.

"I thought so." Shikamaru intensified his gaze on Itachi. "Tell me why you want to find Sasuke."

"That is none of your concern." Itachi turned his back to Shikamaru running his fingers against a tree with a marking on it.

"Yes it is. Unless you want to find him, you will tell me your reasons." Itachi looked over his shoulder at Shikamaru.

"These markings, they weren't made by me. The ones that you were about to follow, those were from my hand all the way to this point. You were following this trail weren't you?" Shikamaru stayed silent still observing Itachi. "Which means, you were out here for something, finding some of your friends perhaps? So if you were heading up this trail, if someone walks in the opposite direction, say me, I'll end up right at your shelter I suppose?"

"You are absolutely right." Shikamaru sensed the danger radiating off of the Akatsuki member; he definitely meant business. They were silent for a while as Shikamaru ran through numerous strategies in his head.

"My name is Shikamaru. You are...?"

"Itachi."

Shikamaru nodded before he spoke. "I'm sure you are already aware of where exactly we are, and how our lives are at risk even at this moment. I am also certain that you aren't afraid of this. In fact, we could use your level of strength and knowledge in order to survive. I will provide you with everything you need; food, water, shelter, and I will help you with Sasuke, but only if you answer my question correctly."

Itachi turned to face Shikamaru waiting for him to continue.

"What do you want with Sasuke?" Shikamaru asked the question as a demand. Itachi stood still, not making a single move. Carefully thinking it out, Itachi came back with his answer.

"I have a solution to this mess." Shikamaru's eyes widened to Itachi's statement. "I need Sasuke's help however. When I find him, I'll explain everything then."

Weighing the situation, Shikamaru accepted Itachi's response.

"One condition," Shikamaru longed to shove his hands into his pockets but thought better if they remained free. He placed them behind his neck instead, as if he were stretching. "If you try anything funny, I won't hesitate to kill you."

Itachi nodded his acknowledgment and walked closer to Shikamaru. "Lead the way."

_'You really got yourself in the most troublesome situation haven't you Shikamaru.' _He thought to himself as he took his spear in his hand again, he had three days to gather everyone. Hopefully, he'd make it in time.

-x-

"If I'm right, we should come up to a clearing in a few minutes." Sasuke whispered to Sakura. He remembered the low-budget 'scary' movies he'd always end up watching, and how someone always managed to disappear when the others weren't looking. It was because of this that he had the tugging feeling to hold on to Sakura's hand the moment they left the tree. As he pulled her along behind him, she didn't seemed like she minded him holding hands with her. The poor thing was scared to death although she did her best in concealing it; Sasuke could see through anyone's defensive mask.

As he mentioned, they came across a lightening of the thick jungle. To their left, the ground had ended abruptly, signaling their was some kind of drop. Over it resided a purple dangling vine, which was an unusual color for it. Sasuke ventured closer to it bringing Sakura with him.

Then they saw it. Hundreds of dinosaurs roamed around a good mile down. Among them was the popular Brachiosaurus. Their long necks towered over the multiple lizards that ran in flocks, making them look like ants in compared to their enormous size. Their different cries and roars reached their ears like a symphony having never heard that kind of sound in person before. It was just simply breathtaking.

Sasuke carefully peered straight down the drop. On the ground was the fleshless bones of some kind of creature that was sprawled on the dry rock beneath it. The vine, the cliff, and the bones below provided the evidence that they were exactly were Sasuke wanted to go as he retraced his steps. What amazed him was how this sight appeared to be a black hole the night before.

Sakura gripped his arm hard quietly gasping his name. He looked up to notice numerous pterodactyls soaring in the skies. Their long faces were beautiful all the while disturbing. One seemed to notice the two standing in the open for it turned its direction on flight towards them. The closer it came, the faster it seemed to be charging at them.

"Shit!" Sasuke grabbed a hold of Sakura and dove to the left in the direction they had come from. The pterodactyl barely missed them as it rose up again in the air circling to fly back with its friends.

"We..." Sakura mumbled still staring with shocked eyes over the cliff, "We really aren't home anymore...are we?"

From the floor, they both got up dusting themselves. "Did you think I was kidding when I told you?"

"I was hoping you were." The sadness in her voice wavered Sasuke, making him feel like he should say something to her.

_'Like what?' _There was nothing he _could _say. Telling her that everything would turn out alright in the end wasn't exactly the truth either. He just didn't want her to feel sad. He knew how it felt, true sadness; it was something no one should suffer through.

"Hey-" He started out but stopped until his eyes picked up movement behind her. His eyes adjusted on it, bringing fierce fire in his blood.

"Sakura..." His voice instantly became heavy with anger, making Sakura flinch at the arm Sasuke held out to place Sakura behind him. Then she saw them too.

"Sasuke? There you are- Where is Naruto and Sai?" Sasuke completely ignored Shikamaru who came out from the jungle to stand beside Itachi.

"What are you doing with him." Sasuke's jaw clenched as his teeth grit together. His abrupt rage led Sakura to figure out that this guy must have been the man who killed his family. Itachi spoke.

"I wanted to find you because I need to talk to you about something." Shikamaru eyed the two wearily sensing the unstable aura.

"Have you spoken to Karin yet? I entrusted her to deliver a message to you, but I've lost contact with her."

"Message?" Shikamaru and Sasuke said in union.

"About Madara." That name was familiar to Sasuke, but he couldn't remember where he had heard it before. Itachi noticed the confusion amongst his brother's eyes and explained further.

"Remember when we lived together before the incident?" Sasuke's hands curled into tight fists. He stayed silent.

"Think back to your 16th birthday, I warned you about someone that day."

The unwanted memories flooded into Sasuke's mind.

**-Flashback-**

"Thank you for coming!" Sasuke's mother was thanking all the guests for attending Sasuke's birthday party. He had spent the entire day being picked on, teased, and hugged to death by his family members. This was why he never enjoyed these kinds of family reunions.

"Sasuke! Come say good bye to everyone!" He still sat on the dining table staring at the untouched slice of cake on his plate. Naruto sat beside him with his arms folded, eying him down.

"Why do you keep staring at me dobe."

"Because I'm trying to figure out why you don't like cake." Naruto leaned closer to Sasuke glaring playfully at him.

"I don't like sweets."

"So you wouldn't mind if I...ate your slice?"

"You've already eaten- never mind, knock yourself out." Naruto placed two fingers on the edge of the plate, slowly sliding the plate towards himself. Sasuke and Naruto never broke eye contact as they stared down each other.

"Sasuke!" He turned his attention to his mother just now actually hearing her. "Say goodbye to everyone!" Doing as he was told, he made his way over to the door and stuck his hands into his pockets. Both his mother's and father's parents had come as well as uncles and aunts. Even cousins that he knew and cousins he hadn't even known they existed. His mother's father was the last one to head out the door. He was a little...lost in the head from old age, but he still loved him for who he was.

"Make me some babies got it! Back in the day they used to call me the baby maker! My skills were superior to this whole clan's!" Sasuke's mother tapped her foot impatiently waiting for her father to leave. She was tired from all the cooking she had done that day, and she still had to clean up the party aftermath. As he continued Sasuke noticed the hint of alcohol in his grandpa's breath. "Don't wait 'till you get old and flabby! With them wrinkles! Women don't like that, the wrinkles remind me of lifeless twinkies! That's why you-"

"PA!" He looked at his daughter like she had just interrupted a talk between him and Jesus. "He's only 16!"

"When I was his age I had a family already! Dat's cuz...I was a SEX GOD!" Behind Sasuke in the dining room Naruto was cracking up, spitting out pieces of chewed cake on the table.

"Well FUC-" Naruto had noticed the mess he was creating but chocked before he could yell about it.

Itachi came down the stairs drawing Sasuke's attention with a small box concealed neatly in shiny red wrapping paper.

"ITACHI!" Their grandpa pointed a finger at him.

"Yes gradfa-"

"SEX GOD!"

Itachi sweat dropped although he secretly loved the way his grandfather acted whenever he got drunk.

"Pa! It's time to leave now!" Sasuke's mother gently pushed him through the door ignoring the fact that he began to chase after his wife yelling, "Sex God I am!" in a Yoda voice.

"It'd be best if we never spoke of this. Ever." Sasuke said as he turned his attention to Itachi.

"Sasuke, come outside with me, I want to give you something."

"But whose going to help me clean! Your father's at work!" Sasuke glanced at Naruto who was chugging a carton of milk.

"Naruto will. He sleeps over so much he can be considered as family."

"EH?!"

-x-

Outside Itachi sat on their backyard porch's steps. He motioned Sasuke to take his place next to him which Sasuke had no problem in doing so.

"Here, happy birthday, Sasuke." Itachi smiled, giving his gift to his brother. The corner of Sasuke's mouth twitched up into a small smile as he accepted the small box. He undid the bow made of black ribbon, carefully setting it to his side. Ripping the wrapping paper off, a small, navy blue, velvet, jewelry case was revealed. Opening it, the box revealed a silver ring wedged in between its plush white cushions that held it in place. With his finger, Sasuke gently removed the ring finding it attached to a delicate silver chain. Inside the ring, was his full name engraved in beautiful cursive beside the Uchiha's clan symbol. On the outside, interlacing lines stretched across its entire surface, every now and then meeting with miniature ice like diamonds giving it an elegant finish.

"I hope you like it, I tried my best to pick the design I thought you might like. Once a man of the Uchiha family reaches a suitable age, they are considered old enough to bear the weight and pride of Uchiha name. This ring is a symbol of the spirit each of us learn to cherish. I have one too."

From under his shirt, Itachi pulled out his similar ring necklace and without removing it from his neck, he let Sasuke look at it. The ring was similar to Sasuke's with his name engraved on the inside, except the outer part of the ring held a different design. What looked like a DNA strand was aligned around the ring, supporting the tiny red rubies that gave his ring a rich, deep, accent color.

"Never take it off. I haven't since the moment our father gave it too me." He stuck it back underneath his shirt and rested his elbows on his knees.

"Thank you, Itachi. It's perfect." Sasuke clipped the necklace behind his neck and fingered the ring, loving the way it glowed as the setting sun reflected on it. He glanced at Itachi whom was gazing at the orange-red tinted sky.

"Uchiha Madara." Itachi murmured. Sasuke crooked his head at his brother, never having heard of that name before.

"Who's he?"

"He...is someone you should avoid at all costs. He is a twisted man." Itachi closed his eyes in deep thought.

Cocking an eyebrow at his brother, Sasuke pressured for details. "Why?"

"Listen to me Sasuke," Itachi opened his eyes and gave his brother the most serious look Sasuke had ever seen. "You don't need to know why, you only need to trust in my words when I tell you to run from his name. Whenever you hear his name, you have to get away from it, understand?" Sasuke was sweating from the intensity radiating from Itachi.

"Swear it."

"I swear."

"Good." Itachi turned his gaze once more towards the sun, his expression quickly turning sullen.

"In the future, you might learn to hate and despise me for whatever the reason may be. But if that ever happens, promise me you will never lose the will of the Uchiha. No matter what, let that always be treasured in you heart. Promise me."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Sasuke was worried from his brothers words. Why would he ever hate his brother whom he loved most over anyone else?

"Promise me, Sasuke."

He hesitated for a moment before speaking. "I promise."

Itachi sighed smiling once more. Itachi reached around Sasuke's shoulder, pulling him in for what seemed like the last time he'd ever hug his brother. After a while Sasuke grew uncomfortable.

"Alright! Alright already!"

**-Present-**

"You're still wearing it aren't you, Sasuke." Itachi was right, there wasn't a single moment that Sasuke took the necklace off since that day. "You remember what I said about Uchiha Madara then right?"

"Yes."

"He has come back."

"What do you mean by that."

"There is much for me to explain to you, but it isn't safe to have a conversation at this moment. We have to get someplace safe or we might all be made into dinner."

"I don't want to speak to you after what you've put me through. I want you dead." Sasuke desperately tried to keep his voice from escalating into a shout. He aimed his shot gun at Itachi.

Shikamaru noticed the pain underlying in Itachi's face, something wasn't right.

"Stop Sasuke!" Shikamaru spoke. He considered standing in front of Itachi but that would just get him dead as well; Sasuke didn't care for him. He would shoot through Shikamaru in order to get to Itachi. And on top of that, the shot gun would draw to much attention because of the loud noise, and then they'd all be dead.

"You are no longer my brother Itachi." Sasuke was about to pull the trigger before Sakura jumped in front of Sasuke, horror-stricken. She didn't want to see him commit murderer, especially when human life was so precious at the moment.

"Sasuke, don't, please." Sakura pleaded while holding his wrists down. Tears brimmed her large green eyes.

Itachi let out the breath he had been holding in, relieved.

"Sasuke!" Sakura shook him, trying to get Sasuke to tear his glare from Itachi. Nothing she would do would get him to look at her. It was like he was blind.

"There's something you don't know about the Uchiha clan massacre." Itachi chose his words carefully. Instantly Sasuke's anger began to die out. "That's what I want to talk to you about. The reason why I brought up Madara is because he has something to do with it. After I explain all I need to explain, you can choose to let me be, or I'll let you kill me on the spot." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Itachi, not being able to comprehend what he had just heard.

"Fine."

Sakura bit her lip backing off of Sasuke hesitantly.

"Alright. Naruto, Sai, where are they?" Shikamaru started.

"After we found Ino and Sakura," Sasuke gestured to her as he said her name, "we were attacked and got separated. Naruto and Sai are with Ino."

"Why do things keep getting more and more troublesome for me..." Shikamaru said under his breath so none of them would hear but himself. "Alright, I would say let's go search for them, but it'd be better if we returned to the cave first. I say this because Naruto and Sai were armed, they may have escaped from the creatures and made their way back to the cave, thinking the same thing we are now."

"But what if they came back to search for us?" Sakura asked, aching to see her friends at the sound of their names.

"That's why I thought ahead and told Karin and Hinata to make sure they didn't before I left the cave. If they returned safely, they should still be there."

Itachi's eyes flashed to Sakura and in one fast swift motion he pulled out his gun and fired, evicting a terrifying scream from both her and the creature flying right at her.

The force of the pterodactyl's wings roughly shoved Sasuke aside, sending him skidding away from Sakura on the floor. She spun around just in time to back up from its disgusting face as it snapped at her, missing her flesh only by a hair.

"Sakura!" Before Sasuke or the others had time to react to the beast, it gripped Sakura's shoulders with its claws, making her scream. It receded over the cliff taking Sakura with it as food for its offspring.

"Don't shoot! If it falls so does she!"

_'Not again, not this time.' _Sasuke thought as he got up and ran for the ledge. He jumped on the vine swinging out towards the fleeting bird. Letting go he reached for Sakura in mid-air.

* * *

><p><strong>Stupid cliffhangers. Haha get it? Cliff. Hangers. He jumped of the cliff? Get it?<strong>

**...I like to think I'm funny.**

**I want to apologize for the boring-ness of this chapter, there wasn't much action yes I know, but I need to get everything organized, and I may have more explaining to do in the near future xD Bear with me! Next chapter will be more action-y! Shannarou!**

**Review! Review! Review! :)**


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